Rapid Urbanisation is the key feature of the world’s population today. Half the humanity now lives in cities. While you read this sentence, six more people would have joined them.

This is crucial from a water-point-of-view. Cities are highly water-intensive. They house a densely-packed population and industries. The ‘city-lifestyle’ represents an emphasis on continuous growth till it outstrips resources. Naturally, the ever-growing pressure on resources leads to scarcity. This poses a new, unique challenge that comes with rapid urbanisation: creating a dynamic water management system that can accommodate future demand.

The world over, people and institutions have addressed this at two levels: Innovations that help expand supply/reduce usage/minimize loss; and governance interventions aimed at efficient, equitable distribution. The following videos capture some efforts:

• Runoff: Slow it down, spread it out, soak it in
• Porous Pavements
• Stormwater Management using leaky wells
• Reducing water-loss in cities around the world
• Breaking Barriers: Bangladesh

Apart from water-scarcity, the growing cities with their large/dense populations present another big challenge-- sanitation. Most indicators suggest that much needs to be done in this area: around 500 million city-dwellers worldwide still share toilets with their neighbours. Inadequate sanitation invariably leads to the pollution of freshwater sources, straining water supply. More importantly, it leads to outbreaks of waterborne diseases, which are among the main causes of death in many cities. The following videos outline this problem, and highlight some interventions that have brought about positive change:

• Living in the Bucket
• These guys are extremely liquid
• Ecosan in Kazakhstan
• Community-led Total Sanitation in Bangladesh
• Human Excreta Index- Palestine

Like all aspects of well-being, Climate Change is likely to make it much more difficult to meet some of these urban water management challenged. Most impacted would be coastal cities, a fact explored in-depth by the video ‘Connecting Delta Cities.’ (About 40% of the world’s population lives within 100 kilometres of a coastline.)

While the trends/projections paint a mostly bleak picture, the innovations prove that there is a strong case for intervention, for trying to take control. World Water Day 2011 (March 22) is a timely occasion for each one of us to engage actively in the ongoing dialogue: to share our success stories/ failures, and thus enhance our collective capacity to manage water in our cities.

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