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Cited by 41Water Governance and InfrastructureWater Resource Management and QualityUrban and Rural Development Challenges

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Unaffordable and Undrinkable: Rethinking Urban Water Access in the Global South

Open access
Mitlin, Diana, Beard, Victoria A., Satterthwaite, David, Du, Jillian·2019·World Resources Institute
DOI 10.46830/wriwrr.19.00003
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Abstract

In 2015, UNICEF and the World Health Organization reported that over 90% of the world’s population used improved drinking water sources. But new research suggests the indicators used by UNICEF/WHO grossly overestimated the state of water access, especially in cities of the global south. Analysis of 15 cities shows that vast segments of the urban population in the global south lack access to safe, reliable and affordable water. On average, almost half of all households in the studied cities lacked still lack access to piped utility water.

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  • Overcrowding and high population density result in high user demand for water and sanitation services that often far outstrips supply, with resultant stress to water sources and distribution networks often leading to poor functionality and non-continuity of services.

    “Overcrowding and high population density result in a high user demand for water and sanitation services that often far outstrips supply 33,34 , with the resultant stress to water sources and distribution networks often leading to their poor functionality and non-continuity of services. 35”

    From Urban informal settlements as hotspots of antimicrobial resistance and the need to curb environmental transmission. (2020) · cites this paper as [33]

    “The Challenge of Water Access” says cities and utilities struggle to keep pace with growing urban populations, and the paper links urban growth to stressed water supplies and intermittent service. It does not establish that overcrowding causes demand for both water and sanitation to outstrip supply, or that demand-induced stress on distribution networks causes poor network functionality. (LLM, conf=0.83)

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Metadata

Authors
Mitlin, D., Beard, V. A., Satterthwaite, D., & Du, J.
ORCID
Venue
World Resources Institute
Publisher
World Resources Institute
Published
2019-08
DOI
10.46830/wriwrr.19.00003
OpenAlex
W2967874485
Cited by
41
References
2
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 5
FWCI
22.96
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Funders
  • Department for International Development
  • Udenrigsministeriet
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Water Governance and Infrastructure
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Water Science and Technology › Water Resource Management and Quality
  • Social Sciences › Urban Studies › Urban and Rural Development Challenges
Keywords
urban water access, piped water supply, water quality, Global South cities, household water access

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