Service provision in the LEDC city

Overview

Why provision cannot keep pace with growth, and what inadequate water, sanitation, electricity, healthcare, schooling and transport mean for the people living with them.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   Why does service provision fail to keep pace with population growth in the LEDC city?

   Model answer

   Because the population is growing faster than services can be built and faster than the city can pay for them. Most residents are poor and much economic activity is informal and untaxed, so the revenue base is small while the need is enormous. Municipal authorities are often underfunded, understaffed and administratively weak, and may be dependent on national government or donors for capital. Informal settlements are unplanned, so retrofitting pipes, sewers and roads through dense existing development is difficult and costly, and where settlements are illegal the authority may decline to serve them at all.

2. 2

   What problems arise from inadequate water supply in the LEDC city?

   Model answer

   Households without a piped connection must buy from standpipes, kiosks or private vendors, often paying far more per litre than connected households in wealthy districts, or collect from unsafe wells and rivers. Collection consumes hours a day, usually of women's and children's time, keeping children out of school. Insufficient water limits washing and hygiene. Contaminated supplies spread diarrhoeal disease, cholera and typhoid, which are a leading cause of child mortality. Leakage and illegal connections lose a large share of what is treated, and supply may be intermittent, forcing storage in containers where water can become contaminated.

3. 3

   What are the consequences of inadequate sanitation and waste disposal?

   Model answer

   Where there are too few latrines and no sewerage, human waste enters open drains, watercourses and the ground, contaminating the water supply and spreading disease. Shared and distant latrines are unsafe to use at night, particularly for women and girls. Uncollected refuse blocks drains, causing flooding, and provides breeding grounds for rats, flies and mosquitoes. Open dumping and burning of waste pollute air, soil and groundwater, and people, including children, who scavenge on dumps for materials to sell face serious injury and infection.

4. 4

   Why is electricity provision a challenge in informal settlements?

   Model answer

   Because utilities will not connect dwellings on land the occupants do not legally own, and because residents cannot afford connection charges or regular bills. Households therefore rely on kerosene, candles, charcoal and batteries, which are expensive per unit of energy, produce indoor air pollution, and cause fires. Where connections are made illegally by tapping overhead lines, the wiring is unsafe and overloaded, causing electrocution and fires, and the losses fall on the utility, which then has less revenue to extend the network legitimately.

5. 5

   What difficulties do residents face in accessing healthcare and education?

   Model answer

   Public clinics and schools are too few for the population, so classes and waiting lists are large and quality suffers. Facilities may be distant, and transport costs money the household does not have. Formal fees, informal charges, uniforms and materials put services out of reach of the poorest. Where a settlement is unrecognised, no public provision may be made at all, leaving residents dependent on private and voluntary clinics and schools of variable quality and cost. Children's labour and daily water collection compete with attendance, and girls in particular are withdrawn first.

6. 6

   What transport problems does the LEDC city face?

   Model answer

   Road capacity has not kept pace with rising vehicle numbers, so congestion is severe and slows the whole economy. Formal public transport is often limited, so a large informal sector of minibuses, shared taxis and motorcycle taxis fills the gap; it is flexible and affordable but unregulated, overcrowded and a significant source of accidents and emissions. The poorest cannot afford fares at all and must walk, which either ties them to work within walking distance or leaves those housed on the periphery with very long journeys on foot. Roads within informal settlements are often too narrow or unsurfaced for buses, ambulances and fire engines to enter.

Other ways to work this

The same content, four other ways.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.