Urban sanitation technology decision-making in developing countries: a critical analysis of process guides

Abstract

Planning for urban sanitation in developing contexts is one of the major development challenges of thiscentury. Particularly, the relevance of a broad perspective in sanitation decision-making processes has beenincreasingly discussed. One possible contribution to achieve comprehensive decisions is through the use ofplanning guidelines, also called process guides. The present workfirst identified categories of relevant decisionelements, namely: (a) the multi-sectoral approach, (b) the multiplicity of sustainable dimensions, (c) the systemanalysis perspective and (d) the co-existence of planning scales. Then, for each category, a comparativeanalysis of urban sanitation process guides was conducted with a focus on technology decision-making. It wasfound that the importance of considering those categories is increasingly reflected in process guides, althoughnot always in a detailed supportive way. Recommendations are provided to increase the added value of processguides regarding technology selection, as well as, to better integrate them into urban planning.

Keywords

decision-making; developing countries; planning; process guides; sanitation

Published in

International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development
2016, volume: 8, number: 2, pages: 191 - 209

SLU Authors

• Mcconville, Jennifer

  • Chalmers University of Technology

UKÄ Subject classification

Environmental Management
Other Environmental Engineering

Publication identifier

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/19463138.2016.1186674

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/85774