'Equitable human settlements are those in which all people, without discrimination of any kind... have equal access to housing, infrastructure, health services, adequate food and water, education and open spaces.' (The Habitat Agenda, 1996)
Targets
Agenda 21 (Chapter 7.38, 1992):
'...to ensure the provision of adequate environmental infrastructure facilities in all settlements by the year 2025.'
World Summit on Sustainable Development, Plan of Implementation (2002) [PDF format – 204 KB]:
'By 2020, achieve a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers...'
Human settlements
 A human settlement consisting of more than 20,000 inhabitants is generally considered to be an urban centre, but defining the boundaries between rural and urban centres when their populations are less than 20,000 inhabitants remains a murky process.
20% to 40% of the populations of more urbanized nations live in urban centres of less than 200,000 inhabitants.
Refugees and internally displaced persons
There are currently about 10 million refugees and 25 million internally displaced persons throughout the world.
The number of refugees decreased by 24% between 2000 and 2004; the number of internally displaced persons, however, increased by 43% between 2003 and 2004.
In 1994, as many as 60,000 children died from water shortage and water-borne disease when approximately one million Rwandans fled the country after the genocide.
Urban population
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The average size of the world's 100 largest cities grew from around 0.2 million in 1800 to 0.7 million in 1900 to 6.2 million in 2000.
Sixteen cities became 'mega-cities' (10 or more million inhabitants) in 2000, comprising 4% of the population.
Today, half the world’s populations lives in urban centres, compared to less than 15% in 1900.
In 2000, more than 900 million urban dwellers lived in slums, representing nearly a third of all urban dwellers worldwide.
In order for the Millennium Development Goal related to drinking water and sanitation to be met by 2015, 961 million urban dwellers must gain access to improved water supply, and 1 billion to improved sanitation.
| The world's 10 largest cities
Tokyo (Japan)
Mexico City (Mexico)
Sao Paulo (Brazil)
New York (United States)
Bombay (India)
Los Angeles (United States)
Calcutta (India)
Shanghai (China)
Dhaka (Bangladesh)
Dehli (India) |
Source: WWDR2, ‘Water, a shared responsibility’ (UNESCO-WWAP, 2006).
| Proportion of the population living in urban settlements:
- World:
38% in 1975
47% in 2000
54% in 2015
60% in 2030 (almost 5 billion people)
- More developed regions:
70% in 1975
75.5% in 2000
78.5% in 2015
- Less developed regions:
27% in 1975
40.5% in 2000
48.5% in 2015
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Urban child mortality
In the urban areas of low-income countries, 1 child in 6 dies before the age of five.
In areas poorly served with water and sanitation, the child mortality rate is multiplied by 10 or 20 compared to areas with adequate water and sanitation services.
Urban water supply and sanitation
Proportion of households in major cities connected to piped water (house or yard connection):
- World: 94%
- Africa: 43%
- Asia: 77%
- Europe: 92%
- Latin America and the Caribbean: 77%
- North America: 100%
- Oceania: 73%
Proportion of households in major cities connected to sewers:
- World: 86%
- Africa: 18%
- Asia: 45%
- Europe: 92%
- Latin America & the Caribbean: 35%
- North America: 96%
- Oceania: 15%
The proportion of households in major cities connected to piped water and sewers
These figures are based on information provided by 116 cities. In no region was there a representative sample of large cities, although the figures for each region are likely to be indicative of average levels of provision for major cities in that region. If adequate provision for sanitation in large cities is taken to mean a toilet connected to a sewer, then these figures indicate there is a significant lack of adequate provision in cities throughout Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean and Oceania. Source: Extracted from WWDR1. WHO/UNICEF, 2000. Global Water Supply and Sanitation Assessment, 2000 Report. Geneva.
Most of this information is based on figures provided by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat).
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UNESCO.ORG
