A Comparative Study of Metropolitan Water Supply and Drainage Systems in Developed and Developing Countries

The Cases of Tokyo, Mexico City, Paris and Sao Paulo

Abstract

In this paper, the author examines the water supply and drainage systems of Tokyo, Mexico City, Paris and Sdo Paulo. Through a comparison of the former two cities, we recognize the difference between an advanced city and a primate city in a developing country. To this schema, Paris, another advanced city, and Sao Paulo, one more primate city in a developing country, are added, to give an extra dimension to the observation.
As the main point of view, an analysis of the historical development of the water supply and drainage systems is done. Then, the diffusion of the systems and their maintenance in terms of working order are examined in each city.
In conclusion, the author has placed these four cases in the schema of advanced cities and primate cities of developing countries. But the meaning of “advanced” is expressed in a different way in the cases of Tokyo and Paris, and on the other hand, Mexico City and Sdo Paulo have their own ways of development, although they show the same kinds of problems, which are characteristic of primate cities in developing countries.
The process of development represents the history of the necessity of their installations, which appear as a result of the convergence of social conditions with physical ones.