Are smart cities the answer to the urban sanitation crisis?

By Cheryl Hicks, Executive Director of The Toilet Board Coalition and Nitin Paranjpe, President, Home Care at Unilever 

Poor sanitation and open defecation are huge problems. We know that. And yet, when we’re discussing them, we so often assume it’s an issue limited to isolated, rural communities. But the truth is, we are witnessing a global crisis in urban sanitation.

And the scale of that crisis is truly daunting.

Let us put this in context. Right now, there are nearly one billion people living in urban slums around the world, many of whom have extremely poor access to water, sanitation and hygiene. As well as depriving people of a basic standard of living and dignity, poor sanitation contributes to all kinds of problems, including endemic diseases, poor school attendance, low productivity, and limits on economic growth.

And if existing predications are accurate, it’s only going to get worse. At current rates, it’s forecasted that 70% of the global population will live in cities by 2050.

But despite this, there is plenty to be hopeful about. In fact, the solution to this global crisis may well have been under our noses the whole time. 

The world’s first Smart Sanitation City

This January, the Pune Smart Sanitation City Project will launch in India.

Pune is home to more than 6 million people. And in a bid to overcome a growing sanitation crisis the city is to become a test bed for the world’s most innovative and imaginative sanitation solutions.

Numerous pilots will be running in tandem as part of a collaboration between the Toilet Board Coalition (TBC), Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and private sector partners like Unilever. One pilot includes innovation in the waste management systems to tackle the city-wide challenges around untreated sewage (which currently stands at 65%). Another will incorporate smart technologies in the toilets and sanitation system to enhance preventative public health information – and potentially provide early warnings for outbreaks of disease.

Crucially, a third pilot will increase the number of public toilet blocks in the form of “Connected Hygiene Centres.” These centres are designed to be self-funding, turning the surrounding areas into pay-per-use wifi hotspots. Providing free-to-use public restrooms while also bringing affordable internet access to some of the poorest areas of the city. 

These Smart Sanitation City initiatives are just a selection of the pilots being set up in Pune and elsewhere throughout the 18-month project. The Toilet Board Coalition and its many partners will be tracking financial metrics, along with social, economic and health metrics, with the aim of developing scalable, self-sufficient business models. Models that could revolutionise tomorrow’s cities.

A holistic approach driving the sanitation revolution

But we are not there yet. Development experts have learned the hard way that the sanitation crisis is as big as it is complex. These leading-edge experiments, as promising as they are, can only supplement more traditional but proven interventions that were also designed with a “people first” mindset.

Working alongside various partners like UNICEF, Unilever has acquired an extensive expertise in creating programmes that have helped more than 6 million people change their behaviour towards using a toilet and gain improved access to a toilet. So, we’ll be working with Pune to ensure that these insights are embedded into the pilots from the outset, thereby maximising their chances of success.

The rise of the Sanitation Economy

Smart city initiatives such as those in Pune are just a start, but a promising one. We are convinced that Smart Cities with Smart Sanitation Economies don’t just have the power help solve the sanitation crisis. They have the potential to drive a whole new economic model. A model that thrives on agile start-ups, governments and larger businesses working in collaboration. 

We’re proud to be a part of this pioneering work. We want to help accelerate the rise of the Sanitation Economy, and create a new future for sanitation systems in our cities. It’s our firm belief that these kinds of initiatives could transform society for the better, while also creating huge potential to build jobs and businesses. There is so much more work to be done, however. And that is why we’re calling on more businesses – big and small – to join us in building a smarter, more sustainable future. 

*This article is also available on Unilever website