Integrated urban development

Presently, 48 percent of the world’s population lives in towns and cities; by 2030, this figure will rise to about 60 percent. While urban areas have the resources to install water supply and sanitation, they also concentrate wastes. In the absence of good waste management, urban areas can be harbingers of life-threatening diseases. Effective city water management requires the integrated management of water supplies for domestic and industrial needs, control of pollution, treatment of wastewater, the management of rainfall runoff including stormwater, prevention of flooding, and the sustainable use of water resources. Efforts must also be made to promote cooperation with other entities that share the same river basin and/or groundwater source. An integrated urban water management approach is a critical strategy in providing water services of adequate quality and quantity to as many people as possible, thus moving towards the Millennium Development Goals of halving the number of people without access to water and sanitation by 2015.