Sanitation policy and spatial planning in urban East Africa: Diverging sanitation spaces and actor arrangements in Kampala and Kisumu

•During colonial time, dual spaces existed with resultant sanitary divide between users of sanitation.•Currently, six city spaces exists that support different sanitation solutions.•Sanitation provision during colonial time was mainly by public; whereas currently it is by multiple providers.•Different sanitation solutions are provided by different actors.

This paper discusses sanitation policies and spatial planning in Kampala (Uganda) and Kisumu (Kenya) from colonial times to date and their implications for the sitting of sanitation technologies and involving actors. During colonial times, a strict spatial duality was maintained between immigrants in townships and natives in peri-urban areas, with a sanitary divide between them. Also currently, different urban spaces support different sanitation technologies provided by different actors. Actor arrangements are often viewed as a combination of public, private and voluntary sectors, but households should be considered part of the arrangement. Information on spaces and actor arrangements is imperative for location of sanitation technologies and rebalancing them with actor arrangements.