If we are to have any chance at all of meeting the Millennium Development Goal targets for water supply and sanitation in urban (really, periurban) areas in developing countries, we can't continue as we're doing at present.  "More of the same" won't work.  We need a "New Paradigm".

Periurban water supplies: some current problems
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The New Paradigm

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A new paradigm for low-cost urban water supplies and sanitation in developing countries  (Water Policy, 2008) See also: Water and sanitation goals unachievable without fresh thinking (id21, 2008)

Water supply & sanitation cooperatives, the sine qua non of the New Paradigm, are not a weird notion, although people, often the uninformed, will say “Oh, I don’t think cooperatives will work here − you’ll never get people to cooperate with each other”. Fortunately more enlightened governments and others think differently − see here and here.  See also Community Managed System for Operation, Billing & Collection of Water Charges (UN Habitat Policy Paper #1, 2006). [Bear in mind that non-poor households living in apartment blocks are quite happy to pay ‘condominial charges’ for the cost of common services − for example, cleaning of communal spaces, garden maintenance, electricity charges for elevators, etc.]

Water for the Urban Poor: Water Markets, Household Demand, and Service Preferences in Kenya (World Bank, 2005)
An examination of current water use and unit costs in three Kenyan cities and of the willingness of the unconnected to pay for piped water, yard connections, or an improved water kiosk (standpipe) service. 

Sustainable Community Management of Urban Water and Sanitation Schemes: A Training Manual (WSP Africa, 2009)

Quote from the Hashimoto Action Plan:
"Without radical change, we will not achieve the MDG sanitation target."

See also: Simplified sewerage (i.e., condominial sewerage) and  Slum Upgrading

Too many women and children in the  periurban tropics       carry water home. Bamako, Mali

Supporting material:

Community Managed System for Operation, Billing & Collection of Water Charges [UN Habitat, 2006]

The Experience of Condominial Water and Sewerage Systems in Brazil [WSP, 2006]

Ten steps to sustainable infrastructure [water supply, sanitation, drainage, solid waste management] (Habitat International, 1996)

Basic water requirements for human activities: Meeting basic needs [1996]

Domestic Water Quantity, Service Level and Health [WHO, 2003]

Reaching out to consumers: making sure we really know what people think and want, and
acting upon it [World Bank, 2003]

The peri-urban water poor: citizens or consumers? [E & U, 2006] − applies also to periurban sanitation.

Community water supply for the urban poor in developing countries: The case of Dhaka, Bangladesh  [Habitat International, 2007]

          Toward a Strategic Sanitation Approach: Improving the Sustainability of Urban Sanitation
          in Developing Countries  [WSP, 1997]

          Household-centred Environmental Sanitation [Sandec, 2005]

World Bank Experience with the Provision of Infrastructure Services for the Urban Poor: Preliminary Identification and Review of Best Practices [World Bank, 1997]

          Sanitation and hygiene: Grounding the HDR call for a global action plan [ODI, 2007; HDR =
          the 2006 Human Development Report]

          Successful Experiences in Municipal Public Water and Sanitation Services from Brazil
          [ASSEMAE and TNI, 2006]  

Managing water services in small towns: challenges and reform issues for low-income countries (Journal of Urban Planning and Development, ASCE, 2006)

          Water consumption patterns in domestic households in major cities [in India] [EPW, 2007]

          Urban Water and Sanitation Services: An IWRM Approach [Global Water Partnership, 2006]

          Lessons Learned in Infrastructure Services Provision: Reaching the Poor [GPOBA, 2006]

          Basic Urban Services Handbook [IRC]

          Connecting the Slums: A Utility's Pro-Poor Approach in Bangalore [WSP, 2006]

          DSK: A Model for Securing Access to Water for the Urban Poor [WaterAid, 2003]

          How water kiosks can improve access to water for the urban poor [WEDC, 2006]

          Working Together: Sharing of Water & Sanitation Support Services for Small Towns
          & Villages [WELL, 2001]

          Regulation of Water & Sanitation Services: Getting Better Service to Poor People
          [World Bank, 2006]

          Water Governance for Development and Sustainability [ECLAC/UN, 2006]

          Universal(ly bad) Service: Providing Infrastructure Services to Rural and Poor Urban
          Consumers [World Bank, 2002]

          Models of Aggregation for Water and Sanitation Provision [World Bank, 2005]

          Alternative Technologies for Water and Sanitation Supply in Small Towns [WSP, 2005]

          Better Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor: Good Practice from Sub-Saharan Africa
          [WUP & WSP, 2003]

          Water and Human Settlements in an Urbanizing World [from the 2nd UN World Water
          Development Report: Water, A Shared Responsibility, 2006]

          Taking Account of the Poor in Water Sector Regulation [World Bank, 2006]

          Urban Environmental Sanitation Planning: Lessons from Bharatpur, Rajasthan [WSP, 2000]

          Community-driven Development for Water and Sanitation in Urban Areas [WSSCC, 2005]

          Asian Water Supplies: Reaching the Urban Poor [ADB, 2003]

Sustainable Infrastructure in Asia [UNESCAP, 2007]

          Safe Piped Water: Managing Microbial Water Quality in Distribution Systems [WHO, 2004]
         
          Small Piped Water Networks: Helping Local Entrepreneurs to Invest [ADB, 2004]
               
          Mobilizing Resources for Sanitation [WSP, 2004]
               
          Strategic Marketing to Improve both Water Utility Finances and Services to Poor Urban
          Consumers [WEDC, 2000]

          Governance and Getting the Private Sector to Provide Better Water and Sanitation Services
          to the Urban Poor [IIED, 2006]

          Local Water Companies and the Urban Poor [IIED, 2006]

          Community-driven development for water and sanitation in urban areas: its contribution to
          meeting the Millennium Development Goal targets [IIED, 2005]

          The Case for Marketing Sanitation [WSP, 2004]

Urban Water and Sanitation Services: An IWRM Approach [GWP, 2006]

          Cost recovery for urban sanitation in Asian countries: Insurmountable barrier or opportunity for
          sustainability? [Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney, 2005]
 
          Financial Services and Environmental Health: Household Credit for Water and Sanitation
          [EHP, 1995]

          Peri-urban Water Conflicts: Supporting Dialogue and Negotiation [IRC, 2007]

Videos: Towards Clean Cities: Addressing Sanitation in Urban India [WSP, 2008] 
               Zero Open Defecation [in urban India; SPARC, 2008]

          Issues of  Environment and Urbanization:
                                  Meeting the MDGs in Urban Areas  (April 2005)
                                  Water, Sanitation and Drainage in Urban Areas (October 2003)

           Small Urban Centres & Large Villages
            Outside the Large Cities: The demographic importance of small urban centres and large
            villages in Africa, Asia and Latin America [IIED, 2006]
 
            See also: Water tariff structures   Willingness to Pay   Community toilet blocks
                              Slum upgrading   Drinking water quality   Household-level Water Treatment  
                              Sanitation Practice    

             Books for purchase or loan only:              Meeting Development Goals in Small Urban Centres (Water & Sanitation in the World’s
             Cities 2006) [UN-Habitat, 2006]  ULL catalogue entry
 
             The State of the World's Cities 2006/7 [UN-Habitat, 2006]  ULL catalogue entry
         
             Urban Sanitation: A Guide to Strategic Planning [ITDG, 2003]  ULL catalogue entry
     
             Introduction to Urban Water Distribution  [Taylor and Francis, 2006]  ULL catalogue entry

       
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