On rainy days, Meliana Mei walks along an elevated pathway from her home in Makassar, Indonesia, to the market. Water collects in trenches below the path and drains away, giving her a much safer way to reach her destination. ‘Our alley used to flood whenever it rained, making it very hard to get around,’ Mei said. ‘Now I can walk to the market easily, using these new, clean and accessible pathways.’Mei is among 40% of Makassar’s 1.7 million residents who live in flood-prone informal settlements, which are neighborhoods characterized by substandard housing, a lack of secure land tenure and inadequate access to basic services such as water, sanitation and roads. Just a few years ago, the same rains told a very different story in these neighborhoods. Floodwater surged through narrow alleyways and low-lying homes, turning everyday movement into a challenge. Residents waded through waist-deep water, balancing across improvised bamboo planks or paid small fees to ride makeshift rafts through flooded passages. Children often played in the standing water that lingered long after storms, unaware it carried fecal contaminants from damaged sewage systems and overflowing drains.In this coastal city facing flood risks from heavy rains and the sea – risks that are becoming even more frequent due to climate change – these conditions made it hard for residents to move through the neighborhood, care for their families or simply step outside without encountering water that was unsafe and difficult to navigate. Before and after photos show improvements to access points and walkways in a Makasaar community. Photo by RISE. But things are improving now thanks to new solutions from the program. At its core is the idea that these long-standing multigenerational communities are not problems to be cleared or relocated but places of profound infrastructure innovations. Led by Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, and working alongside residents and the city government, the program aims to improve environmental health through water and sanitation infrastructure, and other community updates. They do so while preserving neighborhoods without disrupting social networks, livelihoods and daily routines. In this Series: WRI Ross Center Prize for Cities Finalists Cities This Hillside City in South America Rebuilt Itself Around Nature — and Got Healthier Insights February 3, 2026 Cities The Atlanta Beltline Paves a Path Toward a Healthier, More Connected City Insights February 19, 2026 Cities Manila’s Commuters Pushed for Safer Streets — and Won Insights March 5, 2026 Cities Reviving Nairobi’s Libraries Is Building Healthier Communities Insights March 24, 2026 Cities RELEASE: WRI Ross Center Prize for Cities Names Five Finalists Transforming Health and Daily Life in Cities News January 28, 2026 Transforming Everyday LifeThe impacts of water and sanitation infrastructure upgrades set up by the RISE initiative are now visible across six of Makassar’s informal settlements.More than 1,400 residents now benefit directly from improved sanitation, drainage and access infrastructure, while an estimated 6,000 residents experience indirect improvements through better environmental health and public spaces.Hundreds of toilets have been installed and connected to neighborhood sanitation systems. Wetland treatment areas filter wastewater, rainwater tanks improve household water access and upgraded drainage helps manage flooding. Nearly 3,000 square meters (32,292 square feet) of raised pathways now allow residents to move safely through flood-prone neighborhoods.For residents, these changes are tangible. Along with sanitation improvements, the project has also reshaped public space within settlements. Wetlands double as landscaped areas where residents gather, while raised walkways function as both flood protection and communal spaces. Integration of public spaces with sanitation infrastructure has strengthened everyday life for community members in Makassar’s informal settlements. Photo by WRI Ross Center Prize for Cities. ‘Often sanitation is not what communities think about first,’ said Diego Ramirez-Lovering, co-director of the RISE program and a professor at Monash University. ‘They care about places to gather and socialize. So we designed infrastructure that also creates spaces for community life.’Interrupting the Pathways of ContaminationChanging how people move through these neighborhoods required changing how water moves through them.’The main problem here was dirty water, which caused diarrhea,’ explained Tajuddin, a community leader in one of the settlements (and like many Indonesians, only has one name). ‘In Makassar, they call it camar. That’s what affects children as they are more susceptible to health problems.’ In settlements built along waterways and low-lying land, poor drainage and fragile sanitation systems caused stormwater and wastewater to mix, spreading contamination through homes, streets and shared spaces.RISE is addressing these issues by introducing rarely used systems into these dense informal settlements. By decentralizing sanitation systems by constructing wetlands, using smart pressure sewers and covered community septic tanks, the new sanitation systems are interrupting how pollution moves through these neighborhoods.’RISE uses nature as infrastructure in this process,’ said Ramirez-Lovering. Wastewater is guided through planted wetlands, where soil, roots and microorganisms help filter contaminants, before it returns safely to the environment. Improvements to drainage and rainwater management also help reduce flooding and keep contaminated water away from homes.These approaches are particularly important in Makassar’s flat, waterlogged landscape. ‘Traditional sanitation solutions just don’t work in these dense environments,’ Ramirez-Lovering said. ‘We needed alternatives that could function in these contexts.’ RISE interventions not only address water infrastructure challenges but also incorporate design of community spaces. Photo by WRI Ross Center Prize for Cities. Designing Infrastructure with CommunitiesWhile the technologies behind RISE are innovative, what is truly unique is the way the program integrates community voices into its implementation approach.From the beginning, the RISE team worked directly with residents, organizing discussions and designing workshops where residents helped shape what would be built and where.’We spent a lot of time listening,’ said Intan Putri, a member of the RISE engagement team. ‘Residents understand their neighborhoods better than anyone — where water flows, where people walk and what spaces matter most to the community.’ Residents, local leaders and local government stakeholders have been intimately involved in every stage of the design and delivery. Photo by RISE. In practice, this meant spending weeks inside each settlement working alongside community members. Children, parents, elders and local leaders all participated in conversations about flooding patterns, sanitation challenges and how they move around their neighborhoods.Through this process, residents helped determine where raised walkways would make movement safer during floods and suggested locations for wetlands, drainage channels and sanitation facilities.’It is not the planner who decides where infrastructure should go,’ explained Ihsan Latief, who works on the infrastructure components with the RISE team. ‘The community decides that this location is the right place to put infrastructure facilities.’The results of that collaboration are now visible across the neighborhoods where RISE has worked. Raised pathways connect homes to main city roads, while wetlands and drainage improvements manage water where flooding once pooled. These interventions also reflect local customs and everyday life. Wetlands are carefully positioned with sensitivity to cultural practices and long-held beliefs about how spaces should be arranged – in some areas placed in front of homes to serve as subtle buffers between their home against spirits. Elements of the sanitation systems align with who residents feel most comfortable sharing them with. Landscaping, gathering areas and clothes-drying racks were included at residents’ request, supporting their daily routines.Residents are also trained to monitor the sanitation systems, maintain vegetation and care for shared infrastructure. Programs such as KePoLink, a network of community environmental champions, help maintain communication with city agencies and strengthen residents’ engagement with local government.’We involve the community so that after construction is complete, they understand the system and can maintain it themselves,’ said Ikram, a senior engineer with the project. By combining local knowledge with technical expertise, RISE turns infrastructure into something communities recognize as their own. Deep involvement of community members throughout the process strengthens community ownership of new landscapes and infrastructure. Photo by RISE. Building Partnerships that LastFor these improvements to endure, collaboration with the Makassar city government has been just as important as collaboration with communities.From the start, RISE worked closely with municipal agencies including the Department of Public Works, wastewater authorities and district-level leaders. City officials contributed to community engagement, helped address land tenure questions — often a major challenge in informal neighborhoods — and began preparing for long-term maintenance of the infrastructure.The goal was to ensure that RISE would not remain a short-term pilot but become part of the city’s broader approach to upgrading informal settlements. RISE supports the transition of operations and maintenance to municipal staff through trainings and capacity-building workshops. Photo by RISE. Responsibility for maintenance of RISE infrastructure is now transitioning to the City of Makassar. RISE is training city personnel on the interagency collaboration that’s required for operations and management. This is supplemented by toolkits developed by the RISE team and ongoing collaboration through a city-RISE working group.RISE has also introduced ‘visual contracts,’ developed with communities and city agencies, that translate technical plans into accessible illustrations outlining responsibilities for building, using and maintaining infrastructure. This helps ensure that everyone understands how systems work and who is responsible for their care.Together, these partnerships help ensure that the new pathways, wetlands and sanitation systems remain part of Makassar’s urban future long after the RISE project’s initial phase.Bridging Research and Real-World ChangeThe difference RISE has made in these communities is measurable. The project is anchored in a randomized controlled trial across 12 settlements in Makassar. Six settlements received infrastructure upgrades while six served as comparison sites, allowing researchers to measure how environmental improvements affected health outcomes over time.Using this approach — a method more commonly used to evaluate vaccines and medicines — for urban infrastructure is rare. Informal settlements are complex environments where no two neighborhoods are exactly alike, making it difficult to identify comparable sites and maintain consistent research conditions. The RISE team tracks environmental and health indicators to monitor how project interventions influence public health. Photo by WRI Ross Center Prize for Cities. Despite these challenges, the trial is generating valuable evidence. Researchers track water quality, environmental contamination and health indicators to better understand how improved sanitation, drainage and nature-based infrastructure are influencing public health.For Makassar and other cities facing similar challenges, this evidence is critical for influencing policy. By demonstrating measurable health outcomes, RISE strengthens the case for investing in climate-resilient, community-led infrastructure in informal settlements.A New Model for Urban TransformationThe impact of RISE is already extending beyond the settlements where it began. In Makassar, the city government has identified 30 additional informal settlements as priority sites for future upgrades (not including the six comparison settlements that were part of the initial experiment and will be upgraded as well) and is exploring ways to integrate RISE approaches into long-term planning and infrastructure budgets.At the same time, the model is being adapted in other coastal and island cities. Demonstration sites in Suva, Fiji, are applying RISE’s community-led design and nature-based sanitation systems.The project’s methods are also informing the Citarum Action Research Program in West Java, Indonesia, where RISE-inspired strategies are being used to improve sanitation and waste management for communities living along the heavily polluted Citarum River.What is spreading is not only technology, but process: the community-involved design methods, governance tools and evidence-based approach that allow communities, researchers and city governments to work together to improve environmental health.As Ramirez-Lovering noted, infrastructure alone cannot transform informal settlements. ‘What matters is designing systems that communities understand, trust and can care for over time.’In Makassar, that idea has begun to take root. Raised pathways, wetlands and drainage systems now move water differently through neighborhoods that once flooded with contamination. But perhaps the most important shift is how these settlements are experienced and understood by residents. Rather than obstacles to development, they are becoming places where new models of climate resilience, public health and community-led urban change are being tested and forged.RISE’s Makassar project was selected as one of five finalists for the 2025-2026 WRI Ross Center Prize for Cities, which celebrates projects and initiatives catalyzing healthy cities. The Grand Prize Winner, which will be selected by an independent jury and will receive a $250,000 grand prize, will be awarded on April 20, 2026.

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