More than 7,500 professionals from 120 countries gathered at the Affordable Housing Activation Forum last May and called for concrete actions to assume shared responsibility for improving the effective right of access to decent, adequate and affordable housing throughout the world by 2050.
“Adequate housing is a human right and that means there is a clear public duty to protect those facing such challenges,” commented Robert Lewis-Lettington from Madrid. He, who has worked for more than two decades in multilateral processes and in the provision of technical assistance in the formulation of policies and legislative processes, is the Head of the Urban Legislation unit of UN-Habitat. As a result of his participation in the conference, he affirmed that housing is not a market that finds a natural balance by itself: “There are too many distortions that affect it. Among them, an investment and speculation-driven approach that has been supported by the increasing availability of investment funds for housing, raising prices without a direct increase in demand, disposable income or any kind of concrete supply shortage. .
In the context of the forum, it became clear that this aspect is a particularly important challenge for those without access to flexible financing, in particular the young, the poor and the most vulnerable communities. “Interestingly, contrary to expectations, many countries have seen a reversal of public housing provision and even protection-based regulatory approaches,” said Lewis-Lettington. “In general, there is a perception that housing is out of reach for many, and low-income communities and youth are more vulnerable to this basic need.”
Interestingly, contrary to expectations, many countries have experienced a setback in public housing provision and even protection-based regulatory approaches.
Lewis-Lettington, head of the Urban Legislation unit at UN-Habitat
The participants in the forum pointed out the need to establish a common action plan, build alliances and support governments in their actions to make the right to housing a reality in an inclusive, sustainable and resilient manner. In addition, it was proposed to organize global and regional meetings, mobilize technical and financial support and explore new forms of governance in order to achieve more inclusive housing production. For this, a Activation Framework based on the principles and pillars of the sustainable development and right to housing agendas, especially the 2030 Agenda and the New Urban Agenda.
But Lewis-Lettington showed some skepticism about the progress made: “Despite the emphasis on the new urban agenda, we still do not have good data on the housing situation that provides the level of social and geographic breakdown needed for sound policy making. public”. In his approach through UN Habitat, he underlines the need to know more about who needs what and where, as there are still too many information gaps that limit action policies where they are most needed.
Talking about housing is talking about the dignity of people”.
Marta Vall-Llosera, president of the Superior Council of the Associations of Architects of Spain
One of the main problems that was reflected in the forum is that housing is a global problem that has highlighted the pandemic, and that it must be solved with the rest of the professionals in order to manage it holistically. “It is a problem that transcends housing regulation”, recalled Marta Vall-Llosera, president of the Superior Council of the Colleges of Architects of Spain (CSCAE), “because not only all people have the right to a space that is a home safe, providing dignity, peace and a healthy life; but to talk about housing is to talk about the dignity of people”.
In this context, according to Lewis-Lettington, it is crucial to move from talking about a housing crisis as a novelty, to recognizing that most countries have a structural problem that prevents them from achieving adequate housing for all.
Shipra Narag Suri, Head of UN Habitat’s Urban Practices Branch, opened the forum by recalling that we have never been at a time in history where there is so much pressure for sustainable and affordable solutions: “The right to adequate housing is a of the three priorities of UN-Habitat, together with climate change and the localization of the Sustainable Development Goals”.
Searching for solutions will necessarily go through conveying the focus of housing in the center promoted by UN-Habitat, and accept that solving the global housing problem requires the full participation of all actors at the global, national, regional and urban levels.
But this comprehensive involvement will not be easy. Lewis-Lettington said that home investors and ordinary residents have become less accountable to each other and seem less aware of their interdependence. He also commented that there is a need to strengthen awareness of the dignity that adequate housing provides and the stability and prosperity that it can generate. “But for this process to end up prioritizing housing for all, a much more determined political effort is required,” he says.
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