“Housing policy should be implemented together with land management and urban planning reforms,” the Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) Anacláudia Rossbach said during the dialogue session titled “The Global Housing Crisis – What’s the Plan?” held within the framework of WUF13, APA-Economics reports.
According to her, 2 billion people worldwide do not have access to safe drinking water, while more than 3 billion people are deprived of sanitation services: “At the same time, weak protection of land ownership rights leaves millions of families at risk of displacement and forced eviction.”
Anacláudia Rossbach noted that by 2050, the population of the world’s cities will increase by another 2 billion people, with the majority of this growth expected to occur in Asian and African countries.
The UN-Habitat chief stated that there is no single solution to the global housing crisis and that different solution elements must be brought together to address the problem. In her view, housing policy requires a comprehensive approach and should be integrated with legal, land management, and urban planning reforms.
Anacláudia Rossbach emphasized that improving informal settlements and strengthening land management are among the key priorities in resolving the housing crisis.
