Waste and the City: The Crisis of Sanitation and the Right to Citylife

by Colin McFarlane

Sanitation is fundamental to urban public life and health. We need Sanitation for All.

In an age of pandemics the relationship between the health of the city and good sanitation has never been more important. Waste in the City is a call to action on one of modern urban life’s most neglected sanitation infrastructure. The Covid-19 pandemic has laid bare the devastating consequences of unequal access to sanitation in cities across the globe. At this critical moment in global public health, Colin McFarlane makes the urgent case for Sanitation for All.

The book outlines the worldwide sanitation crisis and offers a vision for a renewed, equitable investment in sanitation that democratises and socialises the modern city. Adopting Henri Lefebvre’s concept of ‘the right to the city’, it uses the notion of ‘citylife’ to reframe the discourse on sanitation from a narrowly-defined policy discussion to a question of democratic right to public life and health. In doing so, the book shows that sanitation is an urbanizing force whose importance extends beyond hygiene to the very foundation of urban social life.

Genres: Nonfiction, Urban Studies

382 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 15, 2023

Reviews

[jordan! · Rating 5 out of 5]

an important and essential book on a topic that is too often neglected. the author takes a global perspective on the issue, while also diving into the philosophical and ontological implications of aspects of the urban environment. guaranteed, you’ll never think about a toilet or a sewer system the same way again.

[🪐 · Rating 4 out of 5]

very interesting and engaging book. author is clearly well-versed on the topic and effectively explains connections between sanitation, citylife and intersectional lives on a global scale. also very effectively outlines pathways for improvement. my only gripe is that sometimes the information is not as clearly organized and feels a bit overwhelming to read and sit with. if you want a broad but international overview of sanitation crises, this is a good book for you. i now give a shit about sanitation!

[Tom Perrone]

Got a third into it and didn't finish. Reads too much like a manifesto and not enough about the sanitation systems of the cities the author is analyzing.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

a thorough review of sanitation and how different aspects are not always prioritised, but are nonetheless as important - i found the sections surrounding community participation and user agency particularly interesting. it was a very readable book despite its academic meaning and included a wide range of case studies

[Olga · Rating 4 out of 5]

surprisingly insightful? i thought it would be more of just “why sanitation is a human right”, but it was so much mire nuanced and intersectional. Really made me think about how many key infrastructural aspects of the climate crisis we just don’t talk about because they are uncomfortable or taboo.

[Maxo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really important work. Especially with reference to Norbert Elias's Civilizing Process, which, maybe I ought to read already. Sanitation infrastructure, much like the prison, much like the slaughterhouse. I was kind of baffled by the number of copy issues though. Who edited this thing? Or, didn't?