From Adequate Housing to Feminist Cities Care, Rights, and Urban Justice

Adequate housing is a fundamental pillar of inclusive, just, and sustainable cities, yet access to it remains deeply shaped by gender inequalities and intersecting forms of exclusion. Women—particularly those living in poverty, informal settlements, or situations of displacement—experience housing insecurity through unequal access to land, tenure security, income, basic services, safety, and decision-making processes. Advancing the right to adequate housing is therefore essential to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals 1 (No Poverty), 5 (Gender Equality), and 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities). This session builds on key debates advanced by the UIA Social Habitat Work Programme, which frames housing as a social, cultural, and political process rather than a purely technical or market-driven product. From this perspective, adequate housing encompasses social housing, informality, collective spaces, care infrastructures, and meaningful participation, placing lived experience and everyday life at the center of urban policy, planning, and design. The session explores how these approaches contribute to the construction of feminist cities grounded in rights, care, equity, and urban justice. Integrating feminist perspectives into housing and urban policy challenges dominant development models that prioritize commodification over social reproduction, well-being, and inclusion. Feminist cities recognize housing not only as shelter, but as a critical interface connecting domestic life, public space, access to services, mobility, safety, and participation in urban governance. These principles strongly resonate with the Social Habitat agenda, which emphasizes community-based practices and the role of women and marginalized groups as active agents in shaping urban environments. The session will address structural barriers to adequate housing, including tenure insecurity, discriminatory legal and financial systems, the marginalization of informal settlements, and the exclusion of women from decision-making. It will also highlight policy approaches, feminist urban strategies, and grassroots practices that promote housing justice, care-centered development, and spatial equity, contributing to the implementation of the New Urban Agenda and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. By linking adequate housing, feminist cities, and Social Habitat, the event advances dialogue and gender-responsive urban futures.