ABSTRACT
In many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), urban water insecurity – the lack of access to safe, affordable, readily available, and reliable supply of potable water in cities and urban areas – remains a critical public health and developmental challenge. Urban water insecurity is even more chronic in the rapidly expanding, unplanned, and low-income slums and informal settlements where the majority of the urban poor lives. Despite these challenges, a complex set of socioeconomic and institutional factors undermine municipal and national attempts to improve water service delivery in underserved urban areas. This chapter draws evidence from the existing literature and our own research to highlight the geographical, spatial, and economic barriers to water services delivery in urban slums and informal settlements. It demonstrates how these barriers disincentivize public utilities from extending new network connections to poor urban households and discusses the role of historical institutional weaknesses. Finally, the chapter offers policy lessons for overcoming common barriers to urban water service delivery and advancing SDG 6 for urban areas in LMICs.
