While many countries are moving away from a focus on infrastructure towards ensuring continuous services and investment in planning, monitoring and post-construction support, significant gaps and disparities remain. To remedy that IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre is developing a modular training programme, "Water and sanitation services that last".

India has the second largest urban system in the world with 310 million people and 5,161 cities and towns. Urbanization has become irreversible with the urban population expected to reach 575 million by 2030 at the current rate of growth. The transition to an urban society, however, has neither been accompanied by a corresponding increase in the supply of basic urban services such as water supply and sanitation services, city roads, and public utilities such as street lights and pavements; nor by adequate supply of land and housing.