Housing Under Constraints Delivering Safe and Resilient Homes and Urban Settlements in Fragile Contexts

The PHC frames housing as a fundamental human right, a cornerstone of community resilience, and a system-level challenge requiring locally grounded and globally supported solutions. An approach that aligns with the WUF13 theme.
In fragile and constrained contexts, housing provision faces compounded challenges, including political instability, restricted access to land and finance, weak institutional capacities, and exposure to political, economic, and climate shocks. In such environments, housing is an entry point for social stability, protection, and human dignity. The Palestinian and Syrian contexts exemplify these challenges while offering valuable lessons on adaptive housing systems and coping mechanisms.
In Palestine, PHC has operated for decades under severe spatial and regulatory constraints, fostering innovative policy tools, flexible financing models, and partnerships that enable safe and resilient housing delivery. In Gaza, PHC has played a central role in post-crisis response by assessing damage, preparing technical designs, and implementing reconstruction and rehabilitation projects. During the war, PHC emerged as a key provider for emergency housing support, and a trusted source of data and technical information for humanitarian and recovery planning.
Regionally, participatory urban recovery planning and inclusive strategies continue to evolve. In Syria, the MoLAE has led recovery efforts through damage assessments, area-based planning, and restoration of basic services and safe housing while safeguarding tenure security. In Homs, upgrading interventions in priority informal areas support the return of displaced residents.
In both contexts, these regions face compounded impacts of military aggression destruction and earthquake vulnerability, resulting in unsafe structures, insecure tenure, and limited services, requiring urgent recovery actions.
This session will share operational experiences from Palestine and Syria, facilitating dialogue among participants on effective housing systems under constraints, presenting operational tools and adaptable recovery models
Objectives:
1. Examine key constraints affecting housing delivery.
2. Share practical lessons from constrained contexts.
3. Explore innovative policy, financing, and coping mechanisms.
4. Encourage cross-sectoral dialogue, networking, and partnerships.
5. Generate recommendations to inform housing policies for cities facing protracted crisis.