tion economies in middle-income countries, and developing economies in low-income countries. In developed economies generally, water service coverage rates are high and there are corresponding concerns over the maintenance of existing assets, whether urban or rural. At the same time a new wave of (sub)urbanisation, responding to demographic changes, rising levels of affluence and expectations, is driving needs for investment in new infrastructure provision. Thus provision for new growth is a substantial driver. Coupled with this is a realisation of the growing scarcity and competition for resources, prompting interest in demand management and (in some cases) calls for "closing the water cycle" (WSSTP, 2005). There are few signs as yet however that this is being tackled in the most developed countries other than Sweden and Australia, although it seems to be a major perspective for the 4th World Water Forum (Sommen, 2006). The present diversity of organisational forms of institutions will continue to be a feature of the industry in the future. There will, however, be substantial changes. In Europe for example, drivers such as the WFD and even climate change might be expected to prompt organisational change with respect to scale of operations, but not asset ownership changes. Regulation of the industry and of companies providing services will probably become an increasing feature of service provision as governments seek to ensure that services are delivered efficiently and cost-effectively, while at the same time continuing to move towards full cost recovery. Affordability ratios (spending on water and sewage as a proportion of household budgets) in Western Europe are in the 1-1.5% range, around 1% in Northern Europe (Germany = 1.2%) and below 1% in southern EU countries. In England the average government target is around 3%, but in some areas retired citizens are paying as much as 7%. By contrast the ratio is 0.5% in the United States but rises to as much as 3% in less well developed economies (EBRD, 2005). A numbe