Cities of Tomorrow

About

Strategic and integrated urban planning is essential to the success of any sanitation programme (Luthi et al, 2011). This multi-phased study is being conducted in Babati Town, Tanzania, where around 3% of the Town Council’s annual budget is spent on WASH. A survey carried out in 2014 indicated that about 90% of the population in Babati have a toilet. However, the state of these toilets varied significantly: 42% were traditional pit, 30% ventilated improved pit latrines (VIP), and 18% Septic.  

WaterAid, who are leading the study, will work closely with key stakeholders to produce a town-wide sanitation and hygiene plan that can deliver inclusive and sustainable sanitation services for all. The project aims to contribute to the understanding of how to achieve universal access to sanitation in urban areas as well as demonstrate the conditions under which municipalities and citizens can co-produce and implement an inclusive and sustainable town-wide sanitation plan. 

The study will involve three phases of research. The first includes qualitative and quantitative data collection to understand the conditions, practices and risks for poor sanitation and hygiene. The second phase will use participatory planning to develop a series of models for scenario building, and the third phase will involve key stakeholders to analyse the proposed scenarios and agree the town-wide sanitation plan.