Sanitation in Urban Slums

During the past week, I have been reading about sanitation in urban slums. The rates of slum formation and urbanisation are almost equal across Sub-Saharan Africa, 4.58% and 4.53%, respectively (UN-Habitat 2009), and thus slums are an increasingly important feature of urban space. I hope to show in this post, how slums provide a useful lens through which to better understand how the urban context creates very particular and complex sanitation challenges. 

I first of all want to think a bit about the problems associated with poor sanitation, and the reasons why this issue is addressed. An overarching focus in the literature is associated with public health concerns. The relationship between poor sanitation and health is widely researched; I will just try to give two examples of how poor sanitation in urban areas is understood to cause increased public health risks. First, poor sanitation is linked to a prevalence of vector borne disease such as malaria, which often is transmitted by mosquitos. In a study by De Silva andMarshall (2012) the prevalence of urban malaria is partly explained by the presence of mosquito breeding areas that are unintentionally created from, for instance, blocked drains. The blocked drains result in an artificial accumulation of stagnant water, a perfect environment for mosquito breeding. A second set of issues related to health are concerned with the contamination of drinking water. Surface water may for instance be contaminated with pathogenic Escherichia coli from human or animal wastes, which are not managed or disposed of in satisfactory way. Pathogenic E. coli is linked to diarrhoea, which in low- and middle-income countries is estimated to be the cause of 15% of all deaths in children below the age of five (Isunju et al.2011).

The growth of slums is linked to rapid urban population growth stemming from natural growth and rural-urban migration. Cities grow faster than infrastructure is provided and informal settlements with very little access to services arise (Katukiza et al. 2012). In the figure below I have tried to summarise some of the factors that are limiting and challenging the provision of improved sanitation in urban slums.

Figure 1: Sanitation challenges in urban slums

The formation of slums is often the result of an illegal occupation of government land, which means that the settlements lack legal recognition. This informal nature means that there is an overhanging risk of eviction and demolition that according to Katukiza etal. (2010) discourages investment in more long-term and permanent infrastructures such as provision of sanitation. The second issue of accessibility relates to the unplanned nature of urban slums. Sanitation facilities in urban slums are very rarely connected to a central sewer system, which means that facilities such as pit latrines, which are the most common in African slums, need to be emptied on occasion. It is however very difficult for cesspool trucks to reach some areas because of the narrow corridors between houses and other structures in the settlement. To keep the pit latrines operational Katukiza et al. (2012) reports that locals might instead empty the facility by making a hole in the storage wall, resulting in uncontrolled disposal of the excreta. A third contributing factor limiting sanitation improvements is the inadequate funding put towards improving sanitation. Isunju et al. (2011) report that out of the total 2003/2004 budget for investments in water and sanitation in Kenya, only 2.6% was directed towards sanitation. This skew reflects priority patterns where water supply is prioritised above sanitation, instead of viewed as part of the same process. The final limiting factor I want to highlight is the tenant system in urban slums. As governments are unable to provide the necessary infrastructure, responsibility is left with individuals and families, however, their agency is complicated because most slum dwellers are tenants. Insunju et al. (2011) find that the perception of tenants being consumers and landlords being providers does not fit many slum contexts. Rather, demand for housing in urban slums is high, which creates favourable market conditions for landlords. Tenants in turn have very little say in what is prioritised and improved and are moreover “less likely to express their demands is this could reduce their chances of finding suitable housing” (Insunju et al. 2011:373).

Having grown up, and lived all my life in Western Europe it is very difficult to grasp what poor sanitation really is, how it impacts everyday life and why it is so difficult to improve. Starting to explore sanitation through urban slums has brought me a tiny step closer and I am really impressed by the complexity of this issue. I am especially humbled by the question of establishing underpinning institutions and structures that enable continued service, maintenance and management. There are so many things I want to try to understand better including issues around the sharing of facilities, gender specific perspectives and the role of NGOs in sanitation provision. Stay tuned and I will try to get through as much as possible.