Published on: 2026-05-19
Source: United Nations – United Nations –
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In Thailand, residents of informal settlements, who were once threatened with eviction, are now redesigning and restoring their neighborhoods with state support. In Jordan, refugees and local residents together are turning abandoned public spaces into greener and safer quarters. In Brazil, authorities are modernizing favelas instead of demolishing them. In Germany, the law allows federal states to regulate the level of rent.
According to the new comprehensive UN report, these projects clearly demonstrate: with the proper global housing crisis approach, affecting billions of people, it is possible to overcome it.
The report “World Cities Report 2026: The Global Housing Crisis – Pathways to Action,” prepared by UN-Habitat and presented today at the thirteenth session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) in Baku, shows that the United Nations can play a key role in helping countries transition from short-term measures to long-term housing solutions based on respect for human rights, the principle of adaptation to climate change, and the participation of local communities.
A forum held once every two years has become a rare opportunity for many participants to connect local experience with global policy – from slum modernization and financing affordable housing to climate change adaptation and post-conflict recovery.
The crisis, as all forum participants acknowledge, is unprecedented in nature. About 3.4 billion people worldwide lack access to adequate housing, and more than 1.1 billion live in informal settlements and slums. However, in more than 300 pages, the authors emphasize not only the scale of the problem but also provide examples of successful solutions.
UN as coordinator and partner
The UN-Habitat emphasizes: the role of the United Nations organization is not only to sound the alarm but also to help governments, cities, and local communities develop practical solutions.
In the report, housing is considered as a central element of sustainable development, and the issue itself is proposed to be given a more significant role in the global political agenda, including in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and urban development programs.
UN-Habitat Executive Director Anaclaudia Rossbach calls for considering housing not only as a commodity in the market. “Adequate housing represents one of the most powerful starting points for accelerating sustainable and inclusive development,” she believes.
UN, in particular, offers support to governments in the development of housing policy, coordination of international cooperation, assistance in climate-resilient urban planning, as well as support for modernization projects implemented by local communities.
Instead of imposing ‘top-down’ decisions, the report repeatedly emphasizes the importance of cooperation with the local residents themselves.
Thailand: residents themselves are restoring their neighborhoods
One of the key examples in the report was the Thai program Baan Mankong, which is often cited as an international model of citizen participation in housing development.
Instead of demolishing informal settlements, the program envisages financing infrastructure and supporting collective land agreements, allowing residents to improve their conditions. UN-Habitat considers this an example that proves: informal settlements should not be automatically perceived as a failure of urban policy.
At the same time, the project revealed a number of problems that UN-Habitat calls “lessons learned.” For example, the poorest communities are not always able to meet the necessary conditions to obtain loans.
Jordan: refugees and locals
Another example cited in the report is related to Amman, the capital of Jordan, where near the Al-Hussein refugee camp a large public area was restored and transformed into a park sustainable to climate change for residents of all ages.
Such projects help reduce tension between displaced persons and host communities, while simultaneously improving living conditions for all, including women and girls. UN-Habitat calls on cities not to consider refugees as temporary outsiders, but to recognize them as full-fledged urban residents, entitled to services, work, and safe housing.
The report notes that by the end of 2024, more than 123 million people worldwide were forced to leave their homes due to conflicts, violence, and persecution, and millions of others due to natural disasters. Under these conditions, the UN sees its role as connecting humanitarian aid with long-term urban development.
Brazil: instead of demolition – modernization
Favelas modernization programs in Brazil are also presented as an example of a new approach to combating poverty. For decades, many governments have relied on the eviction and liquidation of slums. However, as noted in the report, such a policy has often only exacerbated poverty and social isolation.
Instead, UN-Habitat promotes an approach of “in-situ upgrading” – improving roads, sanitation, drainage systems, and housing conditions without evictions. This comprehensive approach allowed for taking into account the characteristics of each favela. Projects include improving housing in the Greater São Paulo region, construction of drainage systems in Recife, and a cable car road in the Complexo do Alemão area in Rio de Janeiro.
Housing and climate crisis
Housing is also considered as one of the central elements of the climate crisis in the report. About 37 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings, and climate disasters, according to forecasts, could destroy 167 million homes by 2040. In 2023 alone, climate disasters led to global economic losses totaling 280 billion dollars, most of which were uninsured.
The UN-Habitat believes that climate-resilient housing must become a global priority. The report provides examples of projects to increase housing resilience against the threat of climate disasters in Cambodia, as well as innovative climate initiatives in the Philippines, where residents jointly plan and build homes.
In Tanzania, for example, the rapid electrification process allowed increasing the population’s access to electricity from 15 percent in 2020 to 40 percent. This became an important alternative to polluting energy sources such as charcoal and opened the way to more sustainable practices, including cooking food using electricity. To accelerate the transition, the local energy company developed a program providing residents access to electric cooking appliances through sustainable financing mechanisms, and project participants created a special recipe book for eCooking.
The report also emphasizes that adaptation to climate change should not occur at the expense of low-income residents through forced relocations or so-called “green gentrification”.
Housing as a human right
The UN considers housing not only as an economic issue but also as a human rights issue. The authors of the report call on governments to strengthen legal protection against forced evictions, recognize different forms of land tenure, and involve local communities in the decision-making process.
Even for developed countries, the problem of segregation remains relevant. In Europe, many first and second generation migrants are concentrated in the poorest neighborhoods. In the United States, according to the report, residential segregation in most cities increased from 1990 to 2014. The pandemicCOVID-19This inequality exposed it even more.
The study also indicates that housing policy should go beyond exclusively private homeownership models and include rentals, cooperatives, and initiatives implemented by the communities themselves. The UN-Habitat believes that the solution does not lie in a single universal recipe, but in cooperation between governments, international organizations, and the residents themselves.
“The actions we take today,” the Rospotrebnadzor warns in the foreword to the report, “will determine whether housing becomes a source of stability and development or a source of acute vulnerability.”
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