Cities for the most vulnerable: Placing Housing at the Center of an Equitable Urban Future

Globally, the world has been grappling with a housing quality deficit for decades, with 1.6 billion people living in sub-standard housing of which 1 billion are living in informal settlements and slums. Rapid urbanization, increasing housing construction and land costs, under-resourced and under-capacitated local governments and limited infrastructure capacity of cities to name a few have further amplified the deficit. The United Nations projects that urban population growth will be over 2 billion people by 2050 and that close to 90% of this increase will be in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. This means that billions more people are going to be in need of adequate housing. Inequities are rising around the world due to the demand for adequate housing exceeding the supply and which is exacerbated by global stressors including climate change, conflict, displacement, and the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, societies are seeing increased inequity, informality and political, social, and economic fragmentation. In many cases, the pandemic has left those already vulnerable worse off and further exposed to multi-dimensional poverty, yet it also elevated the central importance that housing plays in creating stable and resilient societies. To build a more equitable urban future, it is essential that governments at all levels recognize the centrality of housing, and its components, in achieving sustainable and resilient cities. Addressing, the barriers to adequate housing encountered by people living in informal settlements and other forms of precarious housing allows for opportunity and agency in improving one’s housing, creating inclusive neighborhoods, questioning long-held power dynamics, and contributing to the security, ecology and sustainability of the wider city. Recognizing the need for diverse solutions, Habitat for Humanity International encourages housing actors at all levels to ensure housing is vulnerable population-focused, climate resilient, and keeps both social and economic values at its core. This networking event will encourage participants to consider the centrality that housing plays in determining a more equitable urban future. Through a guided networking session, in person and online, participants will be encouraged to collaborate with fellow participants on key questions proposed by the organizers, followed by a panel discussion of experts. This networking event will bring together voices from around the world to discuss the central role that housing plays in driving social and economic outcomes, enhancing resilience to disasters, creating sustainable cities and supporting the needs of the world’s most vulnerable. With representatives from academia, grass roots organizations, multilateral organizations and government, the case will be made that the world’s cities will be made more equitable if housing is more accessible by all.