In much of the world, people do not have access to toilets and sewers. To make these places safer, innovators look for cheap, easy-to-install solutions.

"Worldwide, 2.3 billion people don’t have access to a toilet," Alia Dharssi reports for Next City. Because traditional sewage systems can be expensive and take time to build, inventors are looking for ways to give people access to sanitary toilets without them.
Inspired by seeing this issue first hand in Bangladesh, Daigo Ishiyama took on the challenge. "Ishiyama and his team developed a line of cheap plastic toilets with self-closing trapdoors that separate people using latrines from the sewage beneath them," Dharssi reports.
Another group, based out of Kenya, engineered a different solution. "Sanivation installs container-based toilets in homes in informal settlements in Naivasha, a city of north of Nairobi, for free, hauls away the sludge from them for a small monthly fee and processes the waste into fuel briquettes," Dharssi writes.
FULL STORY: In Cities Without Enough Toilets, Innovators Look Beyond Sewers

Study: Maui’s Plan to Convert Vacation Rentals to Long-Term Housing Could Cause Nearly $1 Billion Economic Loss
The plan would reduce visitor accommodation by 25,% resulting in 1,900 jobs lost.

Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage
Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”

Why Should We Subsidize Public Transportation?
Many public transit agencies face financial stress due to rising costs, declining fare revenue, and declining subsidies. Transit advocates must provide a strong business case for increasing public transit funding.

Paris Bike Boom Leads to Steep Drop in Air Pollution
The French city’s air quality has improved dramatically in the past 20 years, coinciding with a growth in cycling.

Why Housing Costs More to Build in California Than in Texas
Hard costs like labor and materials combined with ‘soft’ costs such as permitting make building in the San Francisco Bay Area almost three times as costly as in Texas cities.

San Diego County Sees a Rise in Urban Coyotes
San Diego County experiences a rise in urban coyotes, as sightings become prevalent throughout its urban neighbourhoods and surrounding areas.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Smith Gee Studio
Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization
City of Santa Clarita
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service