Sewers and Urbanization in the Developing World

Sean E. McCulloch; Matthew P. Schaelling; Matthew Turner; Toru Kitagawa

doi:10.3386/w33597

Sewers and Urbanization in the Developing World

Sean E. McCulloch, Matthew P. Schaelling, Matthew Turner & Toru Kitagawa

Working Paper 33597

DOI 10.3386/w33597

Issue Date March 2025

Revision Date December 2025

We investigate the effects of sewer access on developing world cities. It is more difficult to move sewage uphill than downhill, so similar neighborhoods on opposite sides of drainage basin divides face different costs of sewer access. We identify the effect of sewers by comparing outcomes for neighborhoods on opposite sides of drainage basin divides. On average, sewers in Brazil, Colombia, South Africa, Jordan, and Tanzania cause large increases in population density and moderate changes in demographics. There is evidence for heterogeneous effects across countries. Estimates suggest that sewers are as important for the geography of cities as transportation infrastructure.

We are grateful to Victoria Delbridge and IGC country staff in South Africa, Pakistan, Jordan, Ghana and Zambia for help with data collection. We are also grateful for helpful comments from Alex Rothenberg and from seminar participants at the University of Wisconsin, the European and North American meetings of the Urban Economics Association, and the meetings of the Latin American and China Urban Economics Associations. This research was supported by IGC grants BRA-23005 and XXX-23154 and by the Brown University PSTC, which receives funding from the NIH, for training support (T32 HD007338) and for general support (P2C HD041020). Any errors are our responsibility alone. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Sean E. McCulloch
McCulloch thanks the Population Studies and Training Center at Brown University, which receives funding from the NIH, for training support (T32 HD007338) and for general support (P2C HD041020).

Matthew P. Schaelling
am grateful to the Population Studies and Training Center at Brown University, which receives funding from the NIH, for training support (T32 HD007338) and for general support (P2C HD041020).
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Sean E. McCulloch, Matthew P. Schaelling, Matthew Turner, and Toru Kitagawa, "Sewers and Urbanization in the Developing World," NBER Working Paper 33597 (2025), https://doi.org/10.3386/w33597.

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Sewers and Urbanization in the Developing World

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