Urbanization, water demand and sanitation in large cities of the developing world: an introduction to studies carried out in Accra, Addis Ababa and Hyderabad

Daniel J. van Rooijen (1, 2)

1 Water Engineering and Development Centre
2 International Water Management Institute

Water managers in large cities in developing countries experience great difficulties in providing proper water supply and sanitation services in a context of rapidly growing population with changing water use patterns, structural lack of capacity and resources. There is a need for in-depth city-wise water assessments of fast growing large cities in developing countries to help gain insight into the implications of urban water and sanitation development scenarios on urban water demand, wastewater disposal and downstream water use. The generation of reliable data sets and modeling results for a selection of cities will help understand the present and future impact that water use has on water resources and flows that cross the urban-rural divide. Also, an easy-to use model can support decision making at the local urban water planning and policy level. This paper describes ongoing research on the urban water system in three fast growing cities in the South. The application of integrated urban water management in developing countries is needed for the sustainable management of water resources within the city and basin.

Mots clés: Urban water; sanitation; water resources; sustainable development; developing countries

Domaines: Environnement et Société

Daniel J. van Rooijen. Urbanization, water demand and sanitation in large cities of the developing world: an introduction to studies carried out in Accra, Addis Ababa and Hyderabad. 8th World Wide Workshop for Young Environmental Scientists WWW-YES 2009: Urban waters: resource or risks?, Jun 2009, Arcueil, France. ⟨hal-00593005⟩