Can private capital help solve the housing crisis? At #WUF13, Laura Puttkamer explores why financing needs strong cities, public investment and long-term partnerships.
How can rapidly growing cities provide adequate housing while becoming more climate-resilient? Birgit Pickel, Director General – Sustainable Development and Climate, BMZ discusses the role of cities, municipal partnerships and urban financing at WUF13.
Where a child grows up can shape their future. Yet housing policy rarely reflects this. Why cities must move beyond units—and start building environments where children can truly thrive. By Manish Thakre
Around 1.1 billion people live in informal settlements, yet their systems remain invisible to urban planning. Far from deficient, these neighbourhoods operate as complex resource networks. The challenge is no longer understanding them – but planning with them.
Across Southeast Asia, young people are confronting rapid urban transformation that promises progress but delivers displacement, exclusion, and uncertainty. Dang-Dao Nguyen examines how youth-led networks are reclaiming the Right to the City as a lived, political struggle
Short-term rentals are reshaping Mexico City’s housing market. As gentrification and displacement accelerate, protests reveal how tourism, remote work, and weak regulation deepen the urban housing crisis. By Clara-Luisa Weichelt
Community-led rumah flat in Jakarta show how housing can function again as a social good, not a speculative asset. Elisa Sutanudjaja traces this shift towards more just and affordable cities.
Across the Global South, families like Asma Banu’s live under eviction threats while powering cities. Her story demands dignity, secure tenure and basic services for all. By Muaz Hussain
Abuja, Nigeria’s fast-growing capital, is home to Garki Village, a prominent slum area. Often dismissed as an eyesore, it challenges conventional ideas of housing interventions. Maryam Abbakyari shows how empathy and co-creation with residents can transform slum upgrading from technical fixes into climate-responsive, culturally rooted solutions.
City planners and data scientists Santiago Fernández Reyes and Apaar Bansal explain how a new visual tool they developed can bridge the land use and transport policy gap – and push policymakers to provide adequate housing that is better located.
“A house for all” is a promise made by the South African government, which has not yet been fulfilled. Annette May, of Isandla Institute, highlights this ongoing struggle and advocates for policy reform to address systemic challenges in housing delivery.
Vertical gardens combat plastic pollution and urban heat, offering sustainable solutions for low-income areas. Olumuyiwa Adegun showcases two prototypes that have the potential to transform urban landscapes and prove sustainable housing does not need to be expensive or high-tech.
Urban Citizens in India are still struggling with housing inadequacy and (un)affordability. Piyush Tiwari and Jyoti Shukla call on public and private housing institutions to provide equal access to decent and affordable housing.
The second United Nations Habitat Assembly took place in Nairobi from June 5 – 9. Reuben Kyama attended the high-profile event which ended by adopting a historical resolution.
Echoes of the same story can be heard in cities across the globe – homelessness is on the rise and the cost of housing is increasing at an alarming rate while the availability of decent housing dwindles. Kirsten McRae with recent statistics on the global housing crisis and why we should no longer financialise our most basic human good.
