Water for people.pdf - WHO Thailand Digital Repository

C I T I E S : C O M P E T I N G N E E D S I N A N U R B A N E N V I R O N M E N T / 1 6 1Table 7.1: Distribution of urban population in more and less developed regions in 1975, 2000 and 2015Development Area of residence and size class of Population (millions) Percentage distributiongroup urban settlement (number of inhabitants) 1975 2000 2015 1975 2000 2015World Urban area 1,543 2,862 3,869 37.9 47.2 53.7Fewer than 500,000 844 1503 1950 20.8 24.8 27.1500,000 to 1 million 176 290 354 4.3 4.8 4.91 million to 5 million 332 675 960 8.2 11.1 13.35 million to 10 million 122 169 264 3.0 2.8 3.710 million or more 68 225 340 1.7 3.7 4.7Rural area 2,523 3,195 3,338 62.1 52.8 46.3Total 4,066 6,057 7,207 100.0 100.0 100.0More Urban area 734 898 954 70.0 75.4 78.6developed Fewer than 500,000 422 498 522 40.3 41.8 43.0regions 500,000 to 1 million 69 77 74 6.5 6.5 6.11 million to 5 million 145 216 243 13.9 18.1 20.05 million to 10 million 62 39 45 5.9 3.3 3.710 million or more 36 67 71 3.4 5.7 5.8Rural area 314 294 259 30.0 24.6 21.4Total 1,048 1,191 1,214 100.0 100.0 100.0Less Urban area 809 1,964 2,915 26.8 40.4 48.6developed Fewer than 500,000 422 1,005 1,429 14.0 20.7 23.8regions 500,000 to 1 million 108 213 280 3.6 4.4 4.71 million to 5 million 186 458 718 6.2 9.4 12.05 million to 10 million 60 130 218 2.0 2.7 3.610 million or more 32 158 270 1.1 3.2 4.5Rural area 2,209 2,901 3,078 73.2 59.6 51.4Total 3,017 4,865 5,994 100.0 100.0 100.0Fast urban growth is occurring in the less developed regions, reversing the trend that shows the more developed regions having the highest percentage of urban population. In this table, 75 percentof the urban population is foreseen to live in the less developed countries by 2015.Source: UN, 2002.developed regions living in urban areas, i.e. 75 percent of the world’surban population.As centres of economic and social activity, cities provide a uniquecritical mass of highly productive skills and opportunities that drivedevelopment forward – but at a cost. Meeting competing demandsfrom commercial, domestic and industrial users puts great pressureson freshwater resources. Many cities have to go ever deeper intogroundwater sources and ever farther to distant surface watersources, at costs that are ultimately unsustainable in both economicand environmental terms. About 1.2 billion urban dwellers rely ongroundwater and 1.8 billion on surface water sources. They areincreasingly in competition with the rising demands for water fromperi-urban agriculture and rural regions.Many urban residents, and especially the poor, have onlyintermittent or no water supplies, and no sanitation. For the urbanpoor, this lack of access to safe water and basic sanitation causeswidespread ill-health that further limits their productive capabilities.Ironically, the urban poor have often to buy their water from privatevendors and pay far more per litre than their richer neighbours (seechapter 13 on valuing water).Many urban water systems are poorly maintained, and it is notunusual for half the water to be lost in distribution. At the sametime, revenue collection for much of the rest is poor, furtherrestricting operation, maintenance and investment funds forexpansion.New ways of responding to rapid change and making the urbanenvironment sustainable are being explored, especially through bettermanagement and service pricing, greater participation of communitygroups and women, and creative partnerships between public andprivate sector enterprises.However, the success of these initiatives will be dependent oninstituting better urban water governance, otherwise the degradationand depletion of freshwater resources will threaten the very livelihoodof cities and the sustainability of economic and social development.