Urbanisation

Urbanisation

Cities consume 75% of the world’s natural resources and 80% of the global energy supply.

By 2050, roughly 6.4 billion people will live in a city, and demand for water will have increased by 55 percent. Cities power economic development and water security can seriously undermine this. Cities need to take steps to connect to their basins and enable water management institutions to make investments to secure water quantity and quality and mitigate flood risks.

Projects

See projects in this thematic area

Water-Wise Cities

Humanity cannot thrive and survive without water. Cities cannot function without water. A simple, but powerful reality. ...

Inclusive Sanitation

  Reshaping the global agenda on urban sanitation  ...

New Urban Agenda

How to Respond to the Commitments and Call for Action of the New Urban Agenda? The New Urban Agenda (NUA) is the outc...

Water Safety Planning

Humanity cannot thrive and survive without water. Cities cannot function without water. A simple, but powerful reality. ...

Regulating for Citywide Inclusive Sanitation

Rallying service providers and regulators for joint action...

Blog Posts

Latest opinions and insights relevant to the water sector

EnergyTechnologyUrbanisation
April 13, 2022
Bringing reuse water to the mainstream
Population growth, urbanization and persistent drought are straining water resources in various regions around the world, while pollution and contamination comp...
AfricaAsia-PacificDevelopmentHealthSDGsUrbanisation
October 14, 2021
Handwashing is a human right
To mark Global Handwashing Day on 15 October, Léo Heller, former UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights to water and sanitation, writes about the human righ...
IndustrySDGsSocietyUrbanisation
September 30, 2020
Water Consuming Industries & Water Stewar...
Water Stewardship: License to operate? After 200 years of industrialisation where water was used rather thoughtlessly and our natural resources and environment ...
Urbanisation
March 6, 2020
Nature for cities or cities for nature?
“We cannot solve our problem with the same thinking we used when we created them.” Albert Einstein We’ve all heard about thinking out of the box… But it...

News / Events

Circular EconomyMembershipSanitationUrbanisation
October 20, 2022
Call for nominations open for SG Management Co...
Nominations are open for management committees of the following Specialist Groups: Efficient Urban Water Management – applications are open until 10 Novem...
Climate changeEnvironmentUrbanisation
August 26, 2022
NYC Climate Leader as Keynote Speaker at the I...
With the World Water Congress & Exhibition taking place on 11-15 September, the International Water Association is pleased to announce Rohit T. “Rit”...
SanitationUrbanisation
August 22, 2022
SanitAction – a call to action on inclusive ...
Sanitation project in Warangal City, India, courtesy ASCI The International Water Association is launching a dedicated campaign – SanitAction – calling for ...
SanitationSDGsUrbanisation
March 22, 2022
Opportunities for action on urban water for Wo...
Around the world, there remains a great disparity in many people’s access to clean water and basic sanitation. World Water Day brings attention to these ever-...

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