Water for Urban Areas: Challenges and Perspectives

Water will be one of the key resources for sustainaible urban development. It is needed for virtually every human endeavour - for household use, agriculture, industry, leisure - and water also has an important ecosystem function. Provision on sufficient water and preventing pollution, however, are formidable tasks. It is estimated that about 380 million urban residents worldwide lack adequate sanitation and that at least 170 million stil do not have access to a nearby source of safe drinking water. Making clean water available in the next forty or so years will require extending service 30 3.7 billion more urban residents.

In WATER FOR URBAN AREAS leading experts from four continents offer unique insights into varied issues of urban water management. In case studies from the South as well as the North, the authors seek solutions and identify strategies for sustainable management of water resources for burgeoning mega-cities. They consider both technical issues, such as wastewater reuse, and management issues, including financial mechanisms for improved water sector management.

WATER FOR URBAN AREAS will be of interest to scholars, participation, and students concerned with water and environmental management in cities and sustainable development as a whole.