Editorial - Inclusive development and urban water services

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) call for universal access to water and sanitation services by 2030 in Goal 6. This SDG Goal adheres to an inclusive development framework, focusing on social, ecological and relational inclusiveness. This overarching paper assesses the degree to which practices in water services provision are in line with the concept of inclusive development. The article argues that existing practices in water services provision deviate considerably from the concept of inclusive development. This deviation is explained by the findings that water utilities tend to prioritize commercial over socio-ecological objectives, in the way in which service differentiation is implemented in the water services sector and the complexities of layered power dynamics in low-income areas that can hamper relational inclusiveness. As a result, inclusive development in the water services sector is currently largely a 'nirvana concept', something that is striven for but unlikely to be achieved. Increasing the relevance of inclusive development (and thus achievement of SDG6), will require a substantial change in how water services are organized and what objectives in water provisioning are prioritized.