ABSTRACT

Although sanitation is a fundamental aspect of city life (e.g. Black and Fawcett, 2008; Chaplin, 2011), there have been few attempts to explore the everyday ways in which people living within informal settlements perceive and experience sanitation. Much of what we know about urban sanitation is based on aggregate statistics, and while these are surely important, they also conceal the nature of the experiences, inequalities, struggles and expectations of people living with inadequate or absent sanitation. This chapter focuses on urban sanitation experience, perception and coping strategies in two informal settlements in Mumbai and considers the implications of an everyday perspective for a more inclusive urbanism.