Cities impact the hydrological cycle and increase the pressure on natural resources. However, they can also be centres of innovation, early adopters of conservation measures, and have positive influence on their hinterland - says WWDR 2015.

The report highlights furthermore that despite the focus on WASH, the access to clean drinking water and improved sanitation decreased worldwide and especially in cities. As cities are growing and attracting more people, a growing amount of urban poor do not have access to improved WASH-facilities. Solving this, will be one of the main challenges for cities.

We would like to recommend you to read at least Chapter 6 (pages 42-47) on Urbanization and Chapter 15 on the regional focus on Africa (pages 85 to 92).

The World Water Development Report that is published every year, highlights water as major link to sustainable development. The main question guiding the document is: With water at the core of sustainable development, how can we best use the limited water resources we have and make sure it is used well for those sectors contributing to development?