UN-HABITAT Brochure 2011 (English Language Version)
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Transcript of UN-HABITAT Brochure 2011 (English Language Version)
2 UN-HABITAT for a better urban future
UN-HABITAT, the United Nations
agency for human settlements helps
countries to transform their cities into
safer, healthier, greener places with
better opportunities where everyone,
including the urban poor, can live in
dignity.
UN-HABITAT works with organizations at every level, including all spheres of government, civil society and the private sector to help build, manage, plan and finance sustainable urban de-velopment. Our vision is cities without slums that are livable places for all, which do not pollute the environment or deplete natural resources.
At the dawn of a new urban era, with most of humanity now living in cities, UN-HABITAT is at the frontline of the battle against fast growing urban poverty and the scourge of climate change that is caused by poorly planned urbanisation and
threatens the lives and livelihoods of entire cities and communities.
As the United Nations gateway for cities, UN-HABITAT is constantly improving its focus and re-sponsiveness to the aspirations of cities and their residents. Our flagship publications are widely acknowledged as premier works of reference on the built environment, city trends and urban is-sues. Key areas on our agenda are better urban planning, improving city financing, disaster miti-gation and reconstruction, urban mobility, and cleaner, greener cities that take the lead in tack-ling climate change.
At the same time, UN-HABITAT works with hundreds of cities and communities around the world to achieve tangible improvements in the liv-ing conditions and livelihoods of the urban poor. A key area of focus is in supporting the efforts of governments and of civil society in attaining the Millennium Development Goals on water and sanitation in urban areas and slum upgrading.
A MIssION fOr THe 21sT ceNTUry
3UN-HABITAT for a better urban future
A Message from the executive Director
There are four mega-trends marking our modern soci-
ety. The first two are omni-present. They visibly shape
our societies and our daily lives – globalization and in-
formation and communication technology. The latter
is often referred to as one of the main driving forces
of the new economy. Third is climate change and the
growing number of disasters wrought by this scourge,
and finally, the trend less spoken about, but most pro-
found in its impact on the way we live: rapid urbanisa-
tion and the growth of cities.
It is the combined impact of rapid urbanization,
globalization and climate change that is increasingly
shaping today’s development agenda.
On the one hand, cities present unparalleled op-
portunities for creating wealth and prosperity. Cities
have become the driving force of global trade and the
engines of economic growth. They serve as the nexus
of our global financial markets, and the service centres
of our information society. On the other hand, cities
also bring irreversible changes in consumption and
production patterns. As human activity concentrates
in cities, we change the way we use land, water, en-
ergy and other natural resources.
With over half of the world’s people living in cit-
ies, urban areas are already consuming most of world’s
energy and are generating the bulk of our waste, in-
cluding green house gas emissions. Cities also harbour
many very worrisome trends in terms of social depriva-
tion and exclusion.
As the problems of climate disruption emerge at
virtually the same time and the same pace as our cities
are growing, we need new thinking and we need to
act fast. By following the green agenda – using less
fuel for urban transport, and industry, opting for alter-
nate energy sources, making our buildings more ener-
gy efficient, polluting the atmosphere less, protecting
oceans and rivers, and ensuring a decent urban living
environment, we can save money and sustain our cit-
ies and their growing populations in greater dignity
and equity.
In many cities, especially in developing countries,
slum dwellers number more than 50 per cent of the
population and have little or no access to shelter, wa-
ter, and sanitation, education or health services. All
too often, they are deprived of their human and civil
rights as well.
Put another way: Never before in history has the
world witnessed such a rapid growth in urbanisation.
However, this rapid urbanisation has also seen the ab-
solute number of slum dwellers increase from 776.7
million in 2000 to some 827.6 million in 2010.
How we manage this situation is arguably one of
THe NeeD fOr UN-HABITAT
Dr. Joan Clos,
Executive Director, UN-HABITAT PHO
TO: ©
UN
-HA
BIT
AT
4 UN-HABITAT for a better urban future
Onitsha, Nigeria one of the emerging cities in Africa. PHOTO: © UN-HABITAT/AlessANdrO scOTTI
5UN-HABITAT for a better urban future
the biggest problems confronting humanity in the 21st
century. As more and more governments recognise
this, the United Nations needs to galvanise its strength
like never before in the quest for sustainable urbanisa-
tion.
In essence, it is a problem of adequate and afford-
able shelter for all, and ways of providing it – a corner-
stone of UN-HABITAT’s relationship with governments,
municipalities, its civil society partners, and the finan-
cial world, both public and private, as well as with
those most in need of shelter, water, sanitation, elec-
tricity and other services that make for an acceptable
standard of living.
With so many millions living in slums, and count-
less thousands joining them every day, we are indeed
sitting on a social time bomb that is ticking away qui-
etly in many overcrowded, poverty-stricken corners of
a geopolitical chessboard already fraught with prob-
lems.
It is a shocking fact, for example, that 61.7 per cent
of people living in towns and cities in sub-Saharan Af-
rica today live in slums, and that slum dwellers consti-
tute 35 per cent of urban residents in South Asia.
This is where the United Nations Human Settle-
ments Programme (UN-HABITAT) is mandated to make
a difference for the better. At the birth of the agency
in 1978, two years after the first Habitat conference in
Vancouver, Canada, urbanisation and its impacts were
barely on the radar screen of a United Nations created
just three decades earlier when two-thirds of humanity
was still rural.
In response to the global urbanisation and shelter cri-
sis, the United Nations General Assembly at a special
session to review the Habitat Agenda in 2001 decided
in its Resolution A/56/206 to elevate UN-HABITAT into
a fully fledged programme of the United Nations, guid-
ed by a Governing Council of Member States to help
policy-makers and local communities get to grips with
the problem and find workable, lasting solutions.
Also directly related to UN-HABITAT’s mandate are
the Millennium Development Goals, which recogn-
ise the dire circumstances of the world’s urban poor.
They articulate the commitment of member States to
improve the lives of at least 100 million slum dwell-
ers by the year 2020 – a target set perhaps too low
because already it is calculated that some 22 million
people moved out of slum conditions each year be-
tween 2000 and 2010. Another target directly related
to UN-HABITAT’s mandate is the reduction by half of
the number of people without sustainable access to
safe drinking water and basic sanitation by 2015.
61.7%of people living in towns in sub-saharan africa live in slums
6 UN-HABITAT for a better urban future
Population in selected mega citiesOne person represents one million people (2010 estimates)
Rio de Janeiro 12.2 million
Moscow 10.5 million
Lagos 10.6 million
Cairo 12.5 million
New York-Newark 19.4 million
London 8.2 million
Mumbai 20 million
Tokyo 36.1 million
7UN-HABITAT for a better urban future
UN-HABITAT will therefore continue to prioritize core
activities of its mandates – those activities which
Governments consider to be important. These in-
clude:
• promotingsustainableurbanization;
• promotingpro-poorlandandhousingpolicies;
• improvingaccesstodrinkingwaterandsanitation;
• promotingeffectiveandsustainablefinancing
ofcities;
• promotingpartnershipsandmainstreaming
gender;
• slumpreventionandupgrading;
• promotingglobalawarenessofurbancondi-
tions and trends through evidence based global
monitoring and knowledge exchange
UN-HABITAT also has to respond to emerging urban
challenges. These are:
• promotinganewroleforurbanplanningin
developing sustainable cities and towns – a
planning for the 21st century, which is not the
planningofthe1980s;
• promotingtheroleofcitiesinclimatechange,
focusing on urban-based mitigation and adap-
tation efforts, including in the areas of energy
consumption as well as sustainable urban mo-
bility and transport, bearing in mind the huge
contribution of cities in developed countries to
greenhousegasemissions;
• respondingtonaturalandhuman-madedisas-
ters, with the aim of facilitating transition to
earlyrecoveryandreconstruction;
• promotingandenhancingtheroleoflocal
authorities, focusing on municipal finance.
Finally, a new economic appraisal should be devel-
oped for a better understanding of the urbanization
process. The evolution in time of urban capital assets
and their contribution to the economy of a nation, as
the added value that urbanization generates, are very
powerful forces in both developed and developing
countries.
It is not by chance that the recent financial crisis
was based on the burst of the housing prices bubble.
For the poorest of the poor, the impacts on people’s
lives of such crises, of local and national policy, as well
as international trade and aid, are palpably real.
Dr. Joan closExecutive Director UN-HABITAT
Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations
8 UN-HABITAT for a better urban future
Every two years, UN-HABITAT’s work and relationships
with its partners are examined by the Governing Coun-
cil. Composed of 58 member countries of the United
Nations, it is a high-level forum of governments at the
ministerial level which sets UN-HABITAT’s policy guide-
lines and budget every two years.
The governments have representatives at the agen-
cy’s world headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, with whom
senior UN-HABITAT officials meet regularly throughout
the year in the Committee of Permanent Representa-
tives (CPR). The Governing Council reports to the UN
General Assembly through the Economic and Social
Council (ECOSOC) which co-ordinates the work of UN
agencies.
The objectives, functions and responsibilities of the
Governing Council are set out in General Assembly
resolution 32/162 and in paragraph 222 of the Habi-
tat Agenda.
The Governing Council has approved six focus ar-
eas to hone the agency’s work so that the maximum
benefit can be derived for better, smarter, greener
and more sustainable and equitable cities around the
world.
OVersIGHT - THe GOVerNING cOUNcIL
OrGANIZATION sTrUcTUre
executive DirectorDeputy executive Director
Liaison offices Programme Support Division
financing Human
Settlements
regional andtechnical
Cooperation
Monitoring andresearch
Shelter andSustainable Human
SettlementsDevelopment
executive Direction and Management
9UN-HABITAT for a better urban future
Advocacy and city Monitoring
UN-HABITAT uses its World Urban Campaign, its public
website and flagship publications, as well as a special
best practices department to ensure that good ideas
and smart innovation is easily accessible. For example,
through the best practices database and exchange
system, a city like Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea
learn how Durban, South Africa, fights crime, or how
an urban water management project in Kathmandu,
Nepal, can benefit a city with similar problems in Latin
America. The ideas and practices come in every form,
right down to city park management schemes that can
be applied elsewhere in the world.
The agency publishes two biennial flagship reports,
The State of the World’s Cities, and the Global Report
on Human Settlements. Both are today considered
among the most authoritative reports pertaining to ur-
ban matters anywhere to be found. Also in this league
are another set of regional biennial reports – The State
of African Cities, The State of Arab Cities, The State of
Asian Cities, The State of Chinese Cities, The State of
European Cities in Transition, and The State of Latin
American Cities.
Each quarter, UN-HABITAT also publishes its flag-
ship magazine, Urban World, and throughout the year
different parts of the agency produces scores of spe-
cialized reports in print and electronically on the whole
range of its work around the world.
Most developing countries do not have regular data
effecTIVe ADVOcAcy, PArTNersHIPs AND MONITOrING
UN-HABITAT helps cities learn, know and understand their own needs. from
finding out how many people in a given street may have water and sanitation,
to what local non-governmental and civil society organizations might think
about a city, or how women’s views should be taken into account, and helping
exchange information and best practice ideas world-wide, the agency provides
the facts, figures and studies that can help decision makers at every level and
even local residents make optimum choices.
10 UN-HABITAT for a better urban future
collection, analysis and monitoring systems. Good ur-
ban policy and planning requires accurate information.
UN-HABITAT’s Global Urban Observatory (GUO) helps
cities get a bird’s eye view of their situation and their
needs. Photograph a city from space, magnify it, look
at a few streets in any area, and then send in survey
teams to fill in the blanks from the streets up – how
many people live there? How many have access to wa-
ter and sanitation? Are the roads in need of repair?
How many people have AIDS or malaria? Which slums
are the most overcrowded? Armed with answers to
such questions, it is far easier and cheaper to bring
improvements.
tetouan, Morocco. PHOTO: © UN-HABITAT/ALessANDrO scOTTI
11UN-HABITAT for a better urban future
Urban economy
UN-HABITAT promotes urban economic and financial
development to enable cities to perform as engines
of economic development and centres of resources
for human settlements development. It provides an
analytical focus on urban economy and finance and
promotes policies, strategies, tools and partnerships
which enhance the productivities of cities and poverty
reduction. It focuses on:
Poverty reduction: raising the awareness of poverty
and inequality indevelopment;analysingthenature,
characteristics, trends and distribution of poverty and
inequality; devising policies and strategies to tackle
poverty and inequality problems.
Productive cities: exploring how to make cities more
economically productive and socially inclusive and har-
monious, and expand jobs and business opportunities,
increase incomes and improve quality of life, particu-
larly for low income and disadvantaged groups.
Housing finance and Municipal finance systems: promoting inclusive housing finance systems and
mechanisms as well as municipal finance systems to
improve the effectiveness, efficiency and accessibil-
ityofexistingfinancesystems;creatinganddevising
innovative finance mechanisms and instruments. It
publishes a human settlements finance systems and
financing tools series.
regional economic Development: promoting local
economic development by enhancing the capacities of
central and local governments with respect to regional
and national development and by developing strate-
gies and tools for regional economic development.
community-based and cooperative Initiatives: As-
sistance to create, develop and sustain capacities of
the poor and grassroots communities to meet their
needs for housing and poverty reduction and urban
services.
Gender Mainstreaming
Women face discrimination of one kind or another in
every major city of the world. The agency strives to
broaden gender equality and women’s rights into all
its activities by supporting and strengthening gender
awareness. It seeks to ensure more accountable, par-
ticipatory and empowering urban development prac-
tices through a gender sensitive approach.
The implementation of women’s rights to land,
property and housing remains a formidable challenge
facing the world today. The problem persists despite a
host of international human rights instruments such
as Millennium Development Goal 3 (Promote gender
equality and empower women), and the 2005 World
Summit Outcome, where women’s land, property and
inheritance rights are seen as an important indicator of
women’s empowerment and human development.
In an effort to strengthen gender mainstreaming in
its activities, UN-HABITAT produces resource materials
12 UN-HABITAT for a better urban future
on gender and post-crisis governance, reconstruction
and land administration, gender in local governance,
and best practices in gender mainstreaming in human
settlements development.
youth
UN-HABITAT recognizes young people as active partici-
pants in the future of human settlements. Our work is
focused on initiating and fostering inter-agency part-
nerships and partnerships with youth organizations at
the local, national and international levels, to ensure
their voices get heard. Working with young men and
women and understanding their diverse abilities, re-
alities and experiences is an essential element of UN-
HABITAT’s drive for sustainable urbanisation.
The agency works around the world with local au-
thorities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and
youth groups. It promotes better urban youth develop-
ment by providing skills training and training in enter-
prise development and setting up income generating
projects, for example in the housing sector, to help
young people find gainful employment, and thus help
reduce the need to turn to crime.
UN-HABITAT has an Urban Youth Fund which helps
young people in poor countries aged 15 - 32 obtain
funding for innovative ideas and projects. All proposals
are carefully vetted by a jury and those considered the
best are allocated funding ranging from USD 5,000 to
USD 25,000.
Partners
UN-HABITAT has partnerships with governments, local
authorities, donors, the private sector, parliamentar-
ians, urban professionals and researchers, and many
NGOs and community groups world-wide. Indeed, we
have long campaigned for closer relationships with
civil society, parliamentarians, and the private sector,
and within the United Nations system. Ranging from
non-governmental organizations, community-based
organizations, women’s and youth groups to trade
unions, urban professionals, researchers and spiritual
organizations, these partners have innovative ways of
helping the poor. Many have developed effective ways
of working with their national governments and mu-
nicipalities.
Our collaboration with local authorities is particu-
larly important and spreads to all levels – from tech-
nical cooperation projects at city level, to capacity
building in collaboration with training institutions and
policy dialogue at major events like our biennial World
Urban Forum.
But given the challenge of urban poverty, with the
number of people living in slums and other sub-stan-
dard housing projected to rise to more than 1.3 billion
by 2020, meeting the Millennium Development Goals
on slums, water and sanitation is a huge challenge.
It will require a concerted approach to land, basic in-
frastructure and services, affordable housing solutions,
and accessible housing finance systems, through part-
nerships engaging the private sector.
13UN-HABITAT for a better urban future
UN-HABITAT is well aware that the private sector is a
vital part that must be engaged if the world’s cities are
to achieve sustainability. The private sector and the UN
share common objectives of more efficient, produc-
tive and inclusive cities. Cities just have to be good for
business.
UN-HABITAT has many alliances with the business
community able to help us fulfill our mission, by sup-
porting our work, directly or indirectly. These are the
business partners which manifest corporate responsi-
bility in the community, make a positive contribution
to the urban environment, have a record of socially-re-
sponsive behaviour and which have responsive labour
and environmental practices.
In 2010, un-HabItat and its partners launched a new global drive to promote better cities
for all. at a time of global financial crisis, the World urban Campaign takes on a special sense
of urgency in the drive to reduce urban poverty, cut back on energy consumption, cut air and
water pollution, and promote cleaner, safer, greener cities where all feel they belong, whether
rich or poor. It will promote 21st century planning, effect land and housing policy, stronger local
authorities, and better climate change and disaster preparedness, cities without slums, water and
sanitation for all. as humanity now moves into a new urban era, the idea is to take these urgent
issues as campaign themes to exploit the combined power and influence of governments,
local authorities, the media, business, and others to achieve policy change, bring in new
thinking and awareness of the importance of living in a better and smarter urban world.
In short, to consider urbanisation as something positive and wonderful, as something that
can enhance humanity’s greatest legacy – our cities.
UN-HABITAT also appreciates that if its goals are to be
achieved, then it must involve the professionals and
researchers working in all human settlements related
fields be they architects, surveyors, urban planners,
geographers and lawyers. In other words they can be
drawn from any other profession that can practically
contribute to a sustainable urbanization.
14 UN-HABITAT for a better urban future
The World Urban forum
The Forum was established by the United Nations to
examine one of the most pressing problems facing
the world today: rapid urbanization and its impact on
communities, cities, economies, climate change and
policies. Today, it is the world’s premier conference on
managing growing towns and cities.
Since its inception at the first meeting in nairobi,
Kenya in 2002, this conference held every two
years has grown in size and stature.
A unique feature of the World Urban Forum is that
is its one of the most open gatherings on the inter-
national stage. It brings together government leaders,
ministers, mayors, diplomats, members of national,
regional and international associations of local gov-
ernments, non-governmental and community organi-
zations in open dialogue and exchange. Also invited
are professionals, academics, grassroots women’s or-
ganizations, youth, slum dwellers groups, the private
sector and the media as partners working for smarter
and inclusive cities. Each session builds on the lessons
and success of the previous events.
It is at the Forum where we examine the future of
cities, both a difficult and easy task. It is uncomplicated
because we all know the right words for what we wish
a future city to be. We want “green”, “carbon free”
and“environmentallysustainable”cities;citieswithall
the amenities at easy reach, from schools to hospitals,
to markets and workplaces. We want accessible, fre-
quent and reliable public transport and communica-
tions technologies to solve all of our needs.
But the difficult part however is the reality of our
existence. Soon 80 percent of the world’s population
will be living in cities, and the pressures will become
greater and greater as time goes by.
Therefore, when addressing the idea of sustain-
able, better and smarter cities, those gathering at the
Forum always have to keep in mind the poorest of the
poor and aim for the very best models at the same
time.
To achieve these aims – all enshrined in the Mil-
lennium Development Goals and the Habitat Agen-
da– better urban planning, good governance, proper
financing and gender and youth policies incorporated
at every level – are some of the roads to smarter and
more sustainable cities of the future – a future that can
be very exciting indeed.
World Habitat Day
This is another occasion where the agency brings ur-
ban matters to the international agenda each year.
The United Nations has designated the first Monday
of October every year as World Habitat Day. The idea is
to reflect on the state of our towns and cities and the
basic right of all, to adequate shelter. It is also intended
to remind the world of its collective responsibility for
the future of the human habitat. Spearheaded from a
different city around the world every year, the event
15UN-HABITAT for a better urban future
The fifth Session of the World Urban Forum, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2010. PHOTO: © UN-HABITAT/ JUlIUs MwelU
16 UN-HABITAT for a better urban future
always linked to an urban theme is also celebrated in
cities, towns, villages, at schools, city halls and on local
television in more and more countries. It is on World
Habitat Day that the agency anoints the winners of the
Habitat Scroll of Honour Awards.
Knowledge exchange
UN-HABITAT also runs a special website called the Ur-
ban Gateway (urbangateway.org) which operates as a
virtual meeting place and special forum for the global
urban community. It is a place where professionals can
leave their CVs, where an architect can post an essay
on energy efficient buildings, where experts can discuss
how to cut the costs of air conditioning in hot coun-
tries, and heating in cool countries, where a women’s
group in Kenya can learn how another women’s group
in Latin America found a novel way of ensuring gen-
der parity. The gateway promotes global discussion on
how to manage our towns and cities better in a rapidly
Students at a mobile training centre in Uberlandia, Brazil. PHOTO: © AlessAndrO scOTTi
17UN-HABITAT for a better urban future
urbanising world, giving all involved a special place to
exchange best practices, collaborate on projects, share
the latest thinking on urban matters and trends, find
expertise, and mobilise resources for urban initiatives.
Training and capacity building
The multiple challenges facing local communities and
governments and the every approaching Millennium
Development Goals deadline demand capable, adapt-
able, and stable local institutions. UN-HABITAT places
the capacity development of our national partner in-
stitutions at the core of its work, as development will
only be made sustainable through such interventions.
The agency therefore supports normative approaches
and operational activities which target institutional ca-
pacity development.
This is a holistic approach to capacity development
and concentrates on institutions as a whole – their in-
dividuals, the organizations, and the broader enabling
environment in which they operate through three main
areas:institutionaldevelopmenttoolsandapproaches;
education and learning, and communities of practice.
In the first area, the agency works to develop meth-
odologies for assessing and developing capacities for
the wide range of institutions with which UN-HABITAT
works. These methodologies focus on improving the
knowledge and skills through training and study tours,
supporting change agents to lead improvement ef-
forts, conducting diagnostics of institutional strengths
and weaknesses, and concrete organizational devel-
opment approaches that improve their business pro-
cesses and management systems.
Part of this effort includes training programmes
targeting local government officials and staff in a
range of areas including leadership, municipal finance,
local economic development, strategic planning, gov-
ernance, gender, climate change and land manage-
ment.
In terms of education and learning, the efforts are
focused on engaging with a wide array of universities,
think-tanks, regional and national training providers in
an effort to both develop the institutional tools, en-
hance curricula and teaching methods to help bridge
the gap between education and practice in the field of
sustainable urban development.
The agency also provides platforms for the develop-
ment of communities of practitioners from the private
sector, governments, NGOs, universities, and others
for the purposes of learning, discussion, collaboration,
looking at context-based experiences, and jointly solv-
ing problems across a wide array of thematic areas.
18 UN-HABITAT for a better urban future
sTrATeGIc UrBAN PLANNING, GOOD GOVerNANce
Following a re-appraisal of urban planning about fif-
teen years ago, UN-HABITAT started promoting par-
ticipatory urban planning as an element of good urban
governance. At the Istanbul City Summit in 1996, the
idea of participatory urban planning was subsumed
under the broader urban governance framework,
which emerged as one of the main outcomes of Habi-
tat II. In more recent years, UN-HABITAT has worked
closely with urban planning professional associations
and others in a new drive to promote urban planning
for the 21st century, within the broad context of sus-
tainable urban development. One significant outcome
of this new drive was the preparation and publication
of UN-HABITAT’s Global Report on Human Settlements
2009, titled Planning Sustainable Cities.
UN-HABITAT believes that in terms of process, ur-
ban plans should be prepared in a democratic way,
involving civil society organizations and all concerned
stakeholders. Experts should mainly play a facilitating
role.
In terms of product, strategic plans, or city devel-
opment strategies, should replace master plans. The
focus should be on a shared vision for the city (link-
ing social development, economic productivity and
environmental protection) and on multi-partner action
plans to translate this vision into reality by addressing
priority issues.
On implementation, local authorities should be in
the driving seat, as the level of government closest to
the citizens. Decision-making authority and resources
should be decentralised and local capacities strength-
ened. Planning and urban management should be
closely integrated.
In terms of strategy, the agency sees planning as a
tool, its effectiveness dependent directly on the quality
of the urban governance system. Good urban gov-
ernance and appropriate urban policy should almost
automatically lead to good planning.
Several programmes of UN-HABITAT have demon-
strated that this new type of city planning is feasible,
provided it is focused, locally-owned and politically
supported. Although it seems too early to claim that
urban planning is back on the global development
scene, a new and more strategic approach is being
promoted by international organisations and has al-
ready been adopted by several developed countries.
It is a complex process requiring participatory dis-
cussions, commitment and continuity in leadership,
as well as adequate capacities at different levels. This
process is hardly affordable for least developed coun-
tries (LDCs), most of which often lack institutional ca-
pacity, financial resources and clear policies.
The challenge for UN-HABITAT, therefore, is to
identify and promote a minimalist approach to ur-
ban planning, i.e. an approach that generally respects
the above-mentioned criteria, while simultaneously
19UN-HABITAT for a better urban future
focusing on very few top priorities considered as es-
sential for guiding urban development. Essentially, this
approach can be described as affordable, participatory
and strategic. By definition, the minimalist planning
approach should not be comprehensive but selective.
The process should mobilise civil society and politi-
cal organizations in the definition of the vision (“the
city we want”) and priority areas (“hotspots”) through
popular consultations.
In terms of product, it should prioritise infrastruc-
ture development, with emphasis (especially in LDCs)
on primary road and water networks and on pricing
and municipal finance.
Implementation should include a strong component
on institutional strengthening, particularly at the lo-
cal level. The strategy should preferably be associated
with a review/reform of urban governance legislation,
rules and practices.
Of course planning requires maximum political
commitment to ensure impact and sustainability. With
such commitment, urban planning can certainly be-
come affordable and useful. But urban planners, and
other professionals involved in urban planning, should
also accept to play a more modest and more targeted
role in the management of urban affairs.
un-HabItat has created a new network of partners
called the Sustainable urban Development network
(SuD-net). this network is driven by un-HabItat’s
vision of vibrant and pro-poor urban economic
growth that is achieved without causing irreparable
and long-term damage to the environment.
The network is dedicated to helping Habitat Agenda
partners apply strategies that will reduce the eco-
logical footprint of cities while protecting property,
stimulating pro-poor local economic development,
and combating social exclusion and poverty. In terms
of mitigation, better planned cities, more efficient and
effective public transport, and more compact com-
munities not only reduce energy consumption and
pollution, but also contribute to social inclusion and
cohesion.
In terms of adaptation, helping our cities protect
lives and property from extreme weather patterns is
not only a means of promoting resilience but also a
central strategy to improve the living conditions and
safety of the poor and the most vulnerable members
of society.
20 UN-HABITAT for a better urban future
UN-HABITAT’s runs programmes designed to help
make our cities safer, bring relief in countries suffer-
ing the aftermath of war or natural disasters, promote
sustainable cities, good governance and support a
group of priority towns. Its experts work with govern-
ments, local authorities, civil society organisations and
the poorest of the urban poor themselves.
In some countries of the world, crime problems
have been exacerbated by a proliferation of weapons,
drugs, unemployment and delinquency. UN-HABITAT
provides local authorities and the police with support
in crime prevention. It also helps cities and towns cre-
ate the capacity to address urban insecurity and help
establish a culture of crime prevention.
In many countries, the agency has conducted street
safety audits to get an idea of how safe the streets are
for women – a measure of well a city really works.
Security in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. PHOTO: © UN-HABITAT/AlessANdrO scOTTI
21UN-HABITAT for a better urban future
Inclusive cities and governance
The divide between the wealthier and poorer seg-
ments of society in our cities stands out as one of the
major paradoxes – some would say scandals – of this
early 21st century.
After all, cities concentrate what has become
known as the “urban advantage”, namely, a bundle
of opportunities which, from basic services to health,
education, amenities and gainful employment, have
never been so favourable to human development. Yet
all too frequently, cities also concentrate high, unac-
ceptable degrees of inequality as these opportunities
elude major segments of the population.
Good governance gives us inclusive cities where
equal access to urban services and opportunities are
less restricted by all kinds of invisible and very visible
barriers. Look, for example, at the growing number
of gated communities in many countries that con-
tinue to shut the have-nots out. Walk along a street
in the capital of a developing country, and you can
see the well-appointed local headquarters of a world-
wide business consultancy facing a row of tiny, ram-
shackle shops catering to the needs of low-income
residents.
More often than not, the bumpy stretch of mud
which passes for a street along that row will lead to a
slum–the cruellest form of this divide.
UN-HABITAT helps cities identify urban governance
priorities and assess their progress towards the quality
of city-life. The results of its research are fed into the
State of the World’s Cities and the Global Report on
Human Settlements.
The other paradox – or scandal – of early 21st cen-
tury cities is that the opportunities that come with the
“urban advantage” are often closed to women, chil-
dren and young people with vital roles to play in our
collective future. Beyond livelihoods, health and per-
sonal development, the whole continuum of depriva-
tions that characterizes the excluded side of town has
a tangible impact on bodies and minds, stunting the
physical and intellectual potential of millions among
present and future generations.
UN-HABITAT works with national and local govern--
ments to include the poor and marginalized into
mainstream urban life. This calls for a redistribution of
broader opportunities as well. It also brings improved
quality of life, human capital as well as enhanced polit-
ical and cultural inclusion, along with cleaner, greener
cities, and places that are good for business for every-
one.
Experience shows that lack of inclusionary plan-
ning is only planning for trouble. Any sustainable vi-
sion for the future of any city can only be of an inclu-
sive, not divisive nature. This is why we feel the need
for a vigorous World Urban Campaign spearheaded by
the 100 Cities Initiative so that the best practices and
models can be better emulated around the world.
22 UN-HABITAT for a better urban future
PrO-POOr LAND AND HOUsING
Pro-poor Land and Housing is a key component of UN-
HABITAT’s strategic plan for the years 2008-2013. Its
aim is to help national governments, cities and com-
munities develop pro-poor and age-sensitive housing,
land management and property administration.
The agency also works to develop practical and
sound approaches to urban land. UN-HABITAT works
to develop normative approaches to urban land, in-
novative residential tenures, affordable land manage-
ment systems, land-related regulatory and legal frame-
works, with a particular emphasis on pro-poor and
women’s rights and empowerment.
One of the key weapons here is the Global Land
Tool Network (GLTN). The GLTN objective is to con-
tribute to poverty alleviation and the Millennium De-
velopment Goals through land reform, improved land
management and security of tenure. The Network has
developed a global land partnership and its members
include international civil society organizations, inter-
national finance institutions, international research
and training institutions, donors and professional bod-
ies. The GLTN is a demand driven network where many
individuals and groups have come together to address
this global problem. For further information, and regis-
tration, visit the GLTN website at www.gltn.net.
In the agency’s quest to achieve the Habitat Agen-
da goal of Adequate Shelter for All, it also helps estab-
lish housing policy, proper shelter strategies, and af-
fordable housing provision. It promotes a right-based
approach and coordinates the work of the Advisory
Group on Forced Evictions (AGFE). It also fosters coop-
erative housing as part of the strategy for developing
affordable housing options for poor households, and
encourages the use of energy-efficient building mate-
rials. For further information, please write an e-mail to:
Low income residential estate in Uberlandia, Brazil. PHOTO: © UN-HABITAT /AlessANdrO scOTTI
23UN-HABITAT for a better urban future
WATer, sANITATION, UrBAN MOBILITy
Water and sanitation
At a time when nearly all cities have entered the 21st
Century facing a water crisis, UN-HABITAT closely
monitors the state of water and sanitation in urban
areas around the world.
The explosive growth of towns and cities in the
past 30 years since the birth of UN-HABITAT is deplet-
ing previously plentiful water resources, and this is felt
particularly in arid parts of Africa, the Middle East, and
Central Asia. Proper water conservation and manage-
ment is vital for social and environmental sustainability
of cities. In our rapidly urbanising world, water scarcity
is a potential source of strife. Rapid population growth
in urban areas has already created environmental deg-
radation – a task UN-HABITAT works to redress.
The Millennium water target promotes better ser-
vice coverage by advocating pro-poor investments in
urban water, sanitation, waste management and in-
Who is connected to drinking
water in the cities?Percentage of urban households connected to improved drinking water in selected countries.
Shanghai, China. PHOTO: © UN-HABITAT /JULIUs MWeLU
24 UN-HABITAT for a better urban future
1 km of road in Australia is used by 290,280 million people
1 km of road in Japan is used by 947,562 million people
1 km of road in Germany is used by 1,062,700 million people
1 km of road in Mexico is used by 422,915 million people
1 km of road in Ethiopia is used by 219,113 million people
1 km of road in USA is used by 7,814,575 million people
frastructure. It encourages and supports institutional
reforms at local government, national and regional
levels for efficient and equitable service delivery, par-
ticularly in low-income peri-urban settlements. It also
helps national governments and local authorities build
capacity for effective and efficient provision and deliv-
ery of water, sanitation and infrastructure.
UN-HABITAT also manages a Water and Sanitation
Trust Fund established in 2002 to help cities and their
municipalities reach out to the poorest of the poor.
It runs two special programmes: the Water for Af-
rican Cities Programme to help African cities manage
How much is rail transport used? Millions of people per kilometer 1 person=10,000 million people per kilometer
How much is road transport used? Millions of people per kilometer 1 person=100,000 million people per kilometer
growing water demand and protect their fresh water
resources from the increasing pollution loads from cit-
ies; and theWater for AsianCities Programme in a
region of the world where almost two-thirds of people
lack clean water and adequate sanitation. The two pro-
grammes work in close collaboration with the African
Development Bank and the Asian Development Bank.
Its specialist publications on water and sanitation in-
clude an Annual Report as well the award-winning,
Solid Waste Management in the World’s Cities.
1 km of rail in South Africa is used by 20,247 million passengers
1 km of rail in Japan is used by 245,957 million passengers
1 km of rail in France is used by 76,159 million passengers
1 km of rail in Chile is used by 737 million passengers
1 km of rail in Egypt is used by 40,837 million passengers
1 km of rail in Russian Federation is used by 177,639 million passengers
25UN-HABITAT for a better urban future
How many people living in cities have acces to improved sanitaion? One toilet represents 10% of the urban population with access to improved sanitation
Urban mobility
As our cities grow bigger and bigger, along with traf-
fic jams spewing pollution into the air, sapping fuel
that could be better utilized, UN-HABITAT is promot-
ing more efficient and user-friendly transport systems
around the world.
Guided by the Habitat Agenda, the Declaration
of Cities and Other Human Settlements in the New
Millennium, Governing Council Resolution GC 22/8
on Guidelines on access to basic services for all, UN-
HABITAT promotes sustainable urban mobility around
the world.
We advocate land use and urban design patterns
which reduce the need for motorised travel by backing
up national and local plans for better, smarter public
transport, along with improved infrastructure for pe-
destrians and cyclists.
Expanded sustainable urban mobility is key for im-
proving access to housing and employment options
for all parts of society. In addition to its importance
as an urban service for moving people and goods, the
transport infrastructure and service sector itself is a
significant generator of wealth and employment.
If urban regions around the world want to achieve
sustainable development, conserve energy and cut
pollution, they have to pay significant attention to
strategies which address climate change for city-relat-
ed adaptation and mitigation measures.
Fast growing cities will only be able to meet the
housing and employment needs of their populations
in addition to reducing their environmental footprint if
they establish metropolitan mobility systems and set-
tlement patterns that provide equal access to mobility,
while at the same time ensuring that environmentally
friendly modes of transport and low-carbon economic
and spatial growth patterns are promoted.
Algeria98%
Eritria14%
Senegal52%
Bahrain100%
India52%
Romania52%
Uruguay100%
Brazil84%
Haiti29%
Kiribati46%
26 UN-HABITAT for a better urban future
BeTTer UrBAN ecONOMIes AND fINANcING
UN-HABITAT seeks to strengthen human settlements
financing by improving access to finance for housing
and infrastructure, particularly for the urban poor. This
is done by using innovative financial mechanisms and
institutional capacity to leverage the contributions of
communities, local authorities, the private sector, Gov-
ernment and international financial institutions.
It promotes innovative financing mechanisms for
dealing with the Millennium slum target, using a
mechanism called the Slum Upgrading Facility (SUF),
another called Experimental Reimbursable Seeding
Operations (ERSO), and other so-called Innovative Fi-
nancial Mechanisms.
It also helps Member States improve the effective-
ness, efficiency and accessibility of existing housing
finance systems. On municipal finance, it works to
find innovative ways of financing urban development
and basic urban services and infrastructure, especially
means of tapping into the private sector, and Commu-
nity Based Initiatives, including Women’s Land Access
Trusts.
The Slum Upgrading Facility works as a technical
cooperation and seed capital facility which mobilizes
domestic capital for slum upgrading projects and ac-
tivities. It does this on the premise that slums can be
upgraded successfully when the existing slum dwellers
are involved in the planning and design of upgrading
projects.
For the most part, slum dwellers have the ability to
provide resources for the housing themselves, but
want to be secure in their new or upgraded homes. Fi-
nance then becomes a matter of coordinating the ex-
pectations of residents, with the facilities made avail-
able by municipalities, and the containment of risk as
perceived by the financing institutions – banks, capital
markets, etc.
The Facility works to make slum upgrading projects
attractive to retail banks, property developers, housing
finance institutions, service providers, micro-finance
institutions, and utility companies. Commercial banks
need to expand their markets, but to do this, they
need very clear information on which to make their
assessment of risk.
Good information is key to ensuring that every-
one understands the risks involved and how they have
been assessed. This can only be achieved with com-
munities, capital markets and local government work-
ing together. The Facility is designed to promote the
dynamics between people, finance, and politics for
upgrading low income residential areas.
The Experimental Reimbursable Seeding Operations
or ERSO as it is called, is designed to get UN-HABITAT
Governing Council Resolution 21/10 of 2007 working
through the establishment of a trust fund within the
United Nations Habitat and Human Settlements Foun-
dation, for a four-year 2007 to 2011 probation period
27UN-HABITAT for a better urban future
to support the introduction of experimental reimburs-
able seeding operations as well as other innovative fi-
nancial mechanisms.
The idea is that ERSO will provide seed-capital to
domestic financial institutions (banks, microfinance
institutions) in the form of loans or credit enhance-
ments. It does this in combination with technical as-
sistance activities to catalyze investments in pro-poor
housing, related infrastructure and upgrading, in close
partnerships with national and local governments and
support by local intermediaries.
A Souk in Tetouan, Morocco. PHOTO: UN-HABITAT/AlessANdrO scOTTI
28 UN-HABITAT for a better urban future
cLIMATe cHANGe
cities and climate change – cutting across all focus areas
UN-HABITAT’s activities are perhaps unique, in that it
deals with the other side of the climate debate – the
most important urban dimension. The 22nd session
of the Governing Council mandated UN-HABITAT to
specifically work on Cities and Climate Change. It ac-
knowledged that cities are major contributors as well
as primary victims of climate change and recognized
the important role and contribution of cities in devis-
ing and implementing climate change mitigation and
adaptation strategies.
Residents fleeing floods in Pakistan. UN-HABITAT is increasingly
addressing the adverse effects of climate change. PHOTO: © UN-HABITAT
29UN-HABITAT for a better urban future
In response to the resolution, UN-HABITAT developed
a Climate Change Strategy 2010-2013 highlighting
the importance of implementation and action across
the agency. As part of this strategy, UN-HABITAT
launched the Cities and Climate Change Initiative. The
initiative aims to promote dialogue between national
and local levels, to raise awareness of the particular
vulnerability of the urban poor to climate change, and
to develop local government capacity to respond to
climate change challenges.
It is no coincidence that global climate change has
become a leading international development issue at
the same time as the world has become urbanized.
The way we plan, manage, operate and consume en-
ergy in our cities will have a critical role in our quest to
reverse climate disruption and its impact.
Seventy-five percent of commercial energy is con-
sumed in urban and peri-urban areas. In addition, 80
per cent of all waste is generated from our cities and
up to 60 per cent of Greenhouse Gas Emissions which
cause global climate change emanate from cities.
The impacts of climate change will be felt strongly
in the years to come. If sea levels rise by just one meter,
many major coastal cities will be under threat.
More extreme weather patterns such as intense
storms are another. Tropical cyclones and storms, in re-
cent years have affected more than 120 million people
around the world, mostly in developing and least de-
veloped countries. Indeed, in some parts of the world,
inland flooding is occurring more often and on a more
intense basis.
The world is also witnessing more frequent
droughts. In many parts of the world, climate refu-
gees from rural areas that have been hit by drought
or flooding aggravate the migration to cities. The UN
predicts that there will be millions of environmental
migrants by 2020, and climate change is one of the
major drivers.
Largest sources of energy consumption in selected cities in
• high income countries • middle income countries • low income countries
30 UN-HABITAT for a better urban future
78.3
31.5
29.0
22.7
20.3
15.4
12.7
11.3
10.1
China
IndonesiaUSA
BangladeshThailand
Egypt Netherlands
IndiaJapan
Therefore, there is no doubt that climate change
exacerbates existing social, economic and environ-
mental problems, while bringing on new challenges.
The most affected today, and in future, will be the
world’s urban poor – and chief among them, the mil-
lions of slum dwellers.
UN-HABITAT’s Cities in Climate Change Initiative,
supports the efforts of government agencies and lo-
cal authorities in adopting more holistic and partici-
patory approaches to urban environmental planning
and management, and the harnessing of ecologically
sound technologies. The Initiative works on the prem-
ise that the measures required for adaptation and
mitigation are the same – namely better land use plan-
ning, better urban management, more participatory
governance focusing on more resilient housing and
smarter infrastructure and basic services.
The challenges facing cities with regard to climate
change are numerous and daunting, and no entity,
public or private, governmental or non-governmental,
academic or practitioner, can face these challenges
alone.
The agency is facing these challenges in partnership
with United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) and
ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability, through its
contributions to a number of international events and
conferences, and in its role as an observer at the Inter-
governmental Panel on Climate Change.
And in partnership with the Cities Alliance, the
World Bank and the United Nations Environment Pro-
gramme, we are refining methods help cities to mea-
sure their climate footprint and assess their climate
change vulnerability. UN-HABITAT has also started
collaborative implementation with the private sector
and its work on cities and climate change will have a
special focus on integrating the dimensions of youth,
gender and decentralization.
Cities at risk: Sea level riseOne building represents the country’s total population (tallest buildings represent countries with over 150 million people)
The flooded part shows how many people in urbn areas live in low elevation coastal areas (in millions)
10
31UN-HABITAT for a better urban future
In recent years, the world has witnessed an increasing
series of disasters that have resulted in the dramatic
loss of human life, the destructions of homes, prop-
erty, infrastructure, services and indeed the displace-
ment of entire communities.
UN-HABITAT’s experience shows that in most
post-crisis situations, the sudden disruption of service
provision and the destruction of critical infrastructure
represent a major threat for the urban survivors. This
is especially the case where critical infrastructure and
services were sub-standard in the first place.
A key area of work for the agency is ensuring pre-
vention, protection and early recovery of basic service
provision and critical infrastructure for water, sanita-
tion, waste management and hygiene systems. This
also includes immediate support for health provision,
education, and governance systems. To achieve this,
we prioritize the involvement of the survivors them-
selves.
While the response of the international community
to these recent disasters has been generous and, in
most cases, prompt, the scale of destruction has high-
lighted two key questions: how can we prevent such
devastation in the future? And what can we do to help
the victims restore their livelihoods and their homes in
a sustainable manner?
The answer to both these questions lies in large
part on sustainable human settlements planning and
management. Prevention can be greatly enhanced
through the adoption and enforcement of more ap-
propriate land-use planning and building codes.
The rapid restoration of homes and livelihoods,
on the other hand, is more complex and difficult to
achieve. It requires that humanitarian relief operations
be conceived from the very start as a bridge to devel-
opment.
DIsAsTer resPONse
Port au Prince, Haiti after the earthquake in 2010. PHOTO: © PHuOng Tran/IrIn
32 UN-HABITAT for a better urban future
The number and plight of internally displaced per-
sons living for months, sometimes years in situations
of prolonged dependency argue in favour of more sus-
tainable solutions that combine short-term emergency
efforts with the longer-term development.
The suffering after earthquakes in Haiti, Pakistan
or China, volcanoes in Indonesia, floods and droughts
in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and wars
in many countries have shown UN-HABITAT that there
is a dire need for governments, local authorities and
the international community to adopt early warning
systems for cities, towns and villages. Whether the di-
sasters are natural or of our own making, we must be
prepared for them so that we reduce their impact.
During post reconstruction, special attention
should be paid to the environment, women’s secure
tenure, rights to land and adequate housing among
other matters. UN-HABITAT always presses home the
message that the survivors should be treated as assets
and partners in the rebuilding.
UN-HABITAT is a member of the UN Executive
Committee on Humanitarian Affairs (ECHA), as well as
the Inter Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Working
Groups in Geneva.
Working actively with the IASC on humanitarian re-
sponse, UN-HABITAT is committed to assuming a
stronger role and responsibility, under our mandate,
in strengthening the collective UN response to shelter,
land and property matters in post-disaster situations
and to further the implementation of paragraph 111
of the 2005 World Summit Outcome pertaining to in-
ternally displaced persons.
UN-HABITAT offers technical expertise and a net-
work of experts to service global and field partners,
local communities and local governments in improving
the provision of services and ensuring adequate critical
infrastructure protection and rehabilitation.
The blueprint UN-HABITAT uses is to support our
partners and help develop and refine the practice of
building back better, thereby exploiting this “paradox
of crisis”
The agency is working or has worked in afghani-
stan, angola, bangladesh, burundi, the Caribbean,
Central asia, China, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Indo-
nesia, Iran, Iraq, Kenya, Kosovo, Malawi, Mozam-
bique, Myanmar, nepal, Pakistan, rwanda, Serbia
and Montenegro, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sri Lanka,
Sudan, timor Leste and Vietnam. It has an esti-
mated 130 international staff working with more
than 2,300 national staff in crisis situations around
the world helping governments, communities and
local authorities recover from conflict or disasters.
In concert with other UN humanitarian bodies, UN-
HABITAT’s new strategic Policy on Human settle-
ments and crisis enables it to provide expert services
as part of a carefully coordinated humanitarian
response.
33UN-HABITAT for a better urban future
With a vast global reach, UN-HABITAT runs more than
200 technical cooperation programmes and projects in
about 72 countries.
The countries include many of the poorest in the
world like Afghanistan, Somalia, Haiti, and Nepal, just
to cite four examples. Much of the work is aimed at
strengthening the urban fabric, helping slum dwell-
ers with better shelter and basic services such as wa-
ter and sanitation. Most of the programmes are run
by UN-HABITAT staff who are nationals of their own
countries, proudly trying to improve their cities or to
rebuild after disasters.
It is apt here to pay our own colleagues, these un-
sung heroes, special tribute. They include more than
1,000 employees helping rebuild Afghanistan, hun-
dreds in Iraq, and other places of conflict who daily put
their lives on the line to make their world better for their
people, thus making our global village a safer place.
UN-HABITAT’s operational work around the world is
coordinated from four regional offices. These are based
in Fukuoka, Japan, covering the Asia-Pacific, Warsaw
covering Eastern Europe and the former Soviet states,
Nairobi for Africa and the Arab world, and Rio de Ja-
neiro, Brazil, for Latin America and the Caribbean.
In accordance with UN-HABITAT’s new strategic
plan, the operational activities focus on the follow-
ingpriorities:promotingshelterforall; improvingur-
ban governance; reducing urban poverty; improving
the living environment; and managing post-disaster
reconstruction.
Acting as a catalyst in the mobilization of technical
cooperation, UN-HABITAT is supporting the implemen-
tation of the Habitat Agenda at the local, national and
regional levels and seeking to apply the Millennium
Development Goals at the local, neighbourhood level.
Lessons learnt from operational activities are also used
by the agency to formulate global policy guidelines.
UN-HABITAT employs about 45 Habitat Programme
Managers, all of them nationals of the countries in
which they work.
cOUNTry AcTIVITIes
34 UN-HABITAT for a better urban future
In keeping with the United Nations global reform pol-
icy, UN-HABITAT has streamlined its management and
its work programmes under guidelines established by
the Governing Council.
UN-HABITAT utilizes effective planning practices
and procedures which it keeps under constant review.
It ensures the sound financial and administrative man-
agement, as well as the proper servicing of funding
partners and compliance with agreements.
The agency manages its resources to ensure that it
meets the requirements stipulated by donor govern-
ments.
resources
Over half of UN-HABITAT’s financing comes from gov-
ernment and inter-governmental donors. Other United
Nations agencies and the World Bank contribute to
joint projects, while some funds come from founda-
tions, local authorities and other institutions. In addi-
tion, the United Nations headquarters contributes to
the regular budget for core mandated activities.
A major proportion of UN-HABITAT’s total income
is received as earmarked funds, targeted by donors to
specific projects in specific countries. The rest, received
as general purpose or core funds, is allocated to proj-
ects in line with the priorities outlined in the UN-HABI-
TAT’s strategic plan, ensuring that all areas are covered
in a balanced manner.
The aim is to increase the non-earmarked multi-
year funding to ensure predictable and sustainable
funding for human settlements work.
exceLLeNce IN MANAGeMeNT
un-HabItat Headquaters energy saving building opened in 2011. PHOTO: © UNeP
35UN-HABITAT for a better urban future
UN-HABITAT’s Medium-Term Strategic and Institution-
al Plan for 2008-2013 is comprised of two main areas
of action: a strategic component and an institutional
component.
The strategic component is driven by an ambitious
vision and road map for sustainable urbanisation. This
vision is of a world where all women, men and chil-
dren living in urban areas can gain access to decent
housing, clean water and basic sanitation. It is also a
vision of a world where humanity can engage in its
economic pursuits without compromising the ability
of future generations to do so. In an increasingly and
rapidly urbanising world, such a vision and road map
are critical to the attainment of the Habitat Agenda
and the Millennium Development Goals.
The plan calls for enhanced partnerships, and UN-
HABITAT will marshal the goodwill, the know-how
and the resources of all spheres of government and
civil society to focus sharply on the key determinants
for sustainable urbanisation and inclusive urban de-
velopment.Theseareasare:landandhousingforall;
participatory planning and governance; environmen-
tallysoundinfrastructureandservices;andinnovative
housing and urban finance, climate change measures,
and better public transport options.
The plan is achievable because it builds on the
growing realization of the international community
that urbanisation, despite all of its chaotic manifes-
tations, represents a unique opportunity - a positive
force - that can and must be harnessed to support
economic growth and social advancement in a global-
izing world economy.
On the institutional component, the plan aims to
fulfil UN-HABITAT’s contribution to UN reform. A key
component is management excellence focusing on
enhanced accountability, transparency, results-based
monitoring and reporting.
PLANNING AHeAD
and why the MDG’s are underestimated
www.unhabitat.org
united nations Human Settlements ProgrammeP.o. box 30030, GPo nairobi, 00100, Kenyatelephone: +254 20 762 [email protected]