ABSTRACT

Water issues are becoming increasingly critical, especially in urban areas, due to population growth, rapid urbanisation, and the expansion of cities. The urban population is growing at a much faster rate than the population as a whole, in particular in developing countries. According to the United Nations Population Fund report on the state of world population (UNFPA, 2007), the world reaches an invisible but momentous milestone in 2008, which marks the beginning of an urban era with more than half the world’s population living in cities. The report highlights that in 2008, for the first time in history, 3.3 billion people will be living in cities, expected to reach 5 billion by 2030.