Sanitation: the crisis of the urban poor

摘要

IN BANGLADESH, urban sanitation is not a high profile subject. It does not appeal to the human senses as an attractive topic for discussion, particularly amongst politicians and policy-makers. However, access to urban sanitation is essential to the health, dignity and general well being of an urban population, especially the low-income sectors of society. World Bank estimates cite that Bangladesh's population doubled from 55 million in 1961 to 111 million in 1991, its urban population grew almost nine-fold from 2.6 million to approximately 22 million. This trend is expected to continue in the immediate future. Various projections estimate the urban population in 2020 to be in the region of 70 million, three times current numbers.