Unsettled: Water and Sanitation in Urban Settlement Communities of the Pacific

Urbanization is occurring rapidly in Melanesia at 3-4% per annum. Due to unaffordable housing in formal areas and migration from rural areas, many people settle on marginal lands without formal legal titles (referred to as “informal settlements” in this report). Informal settlements are growing in number and new settlements are emerging both within and on the outskirts of major cities across the Melanesia region. This is happening at a rate that far outpaces city or regional efforts to plan for or serve them.