Firstly, progress has been rapid in rural areas - a trend which is projected to continue under the Environmental Outloofe Baseline - but the absolute number of people in rural areas without access is still a concern (Figure 5.12). Secondly, as noted above, the number of city dwellers without access to improved water supply worldwide has actually increased between 1990 and 2008, as service extension fails to keep pace with city growth. Thirdly, the MDG target indicator - the “proportion of population using an improved drinking water source” - does not necessarily reflect access to safe water, which was defined as a fundamental human right by the UN in 2010 (see Section 3 for more on this).