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Water and Cities
   Half of humanity now lives in cities, and within two decades, nearly 60 percent of the world’s people will be urban dwellers. Urban growth is most rapid in the developing world, where cities gain an average of 5 million residents every month. The exploding urban population growth creates unprecedented challenges, among which provision for water and sanitation has been the most pressing and painfully felt when lacking.
   Two main challenges related to water are affecting the sustainability of human urban settlements: the lack of access to safe water and sanitation, and increasing water-related disasters such as floods and droughts. These problems have enormous consequences on human health and well-being, safety, the environment, economic growth and development. The lack of adequate water and sanitation facilities leads to health issues such as diarrhoea, malaria and cholera outbreaks. Though water supply and sanitation coverage have increased for the last 18 years, the growth of the world’s urban populations jeopardizes those results. During these years, 1052 million urban dwellers gained access to improve drinking water and 813 million to improve sanitation, but the urban population in that period grew by 1089 million people.
   An estimated 96 percent of the urban population globally used an improved water supply source last year, compared to 81 percent of the rural population. This means that 653 million rural dwellers lacked improved sources of drinking water.
   Globally, 79 percent of the urban population used an improved sanitation facility last year, compared to 47 percent of the rural population.
   Those who suffer the most of these water-related challenges are the urban poor, often living in slum areas or informal settlements following rapid urban growth, in situations lacking many of life’s basic necessities: safe drinking water, adequate sanitation services and access to health services, durable housing and secure tenure.
   Cities cannot be sustainable without ensuring reliable access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation. Coping with the growing needs of water and sanitation services within cities is one of the most pressing issues of this century. Sustainable, efficient and equitable management of water in cities has never been as important as in today’s world.