Towards “sustainable” sanitation: challenges and opportunities in urban areas

While sanitation is fundamental for health and well being, cities of all sizes face growing challenges in providing safe, affordable and functional sanitation systems that are also sustainable. Factors such as limited political will, inadequate technical, financial and institutional capacities, and failure to integrate safe sanitation systems into broader urban development have meant that unsustainable systems continue to be built and operated, and opportunities are missed to tackle overlapping and interacting urban challenges.

This article looks at what makes urban systems sustainable or unsustainable, and at how to promote sustainable sanitation in cities. It focuses on systems that allow resource recovery, generating added value to society while protecting human and ecosystem health.

Read the article (external link to journal – open access)

Read our book Sanitation, Wastewater Management and Sustainability: From Waste Disposal to Resource Recovery »