Add to ORKGThe extension of electricity, water and sanitation networks in developing cities seems to be a priori complicated by the lack or the deficiencies of urban planning. The modalities of infrastructure deployment into the irregular settlements of Delhi and Lima are here analysed as sociotechnical mechanisms, indicative of the dynamics of the urban fabric. Indeed, on a daily basis, utility firms do install pipes and poles in unplanned settlements. Some technical, social and institutional innovations make the extension of networks possible; the lack of urban planning is therefore not an obstacle to service extension. Nonetheless, this process is not optimal: the conduct of public works is disordered, unpredictability hampers the elaboration of st...