At the World Urban Forum, Habitat for Humanity is showcasing five innovative models that address key global housing challenges. The models, listed below, demonstrate how housing solutions can be a powerful tool for transforming cities, tackling climate change, addressing urban crises and promoting inclusion of marginalized groups.
- Transforming informal settlements.
- Tackling climate change through adequate housing.
- Pathways to Permanence in urban crises.
- Diversifying housing tenures for affordability.
- Addressing urban inequality through targeted housing programs.
1 Transforming informal settlements
While informal settlements may offer affordability, they often lack adequacy. Through context-sensitive, cross-sectoral and people-centered interventions, we can incrementally transform informal settlements to advance affordable and adequate housing while fostering inclusive urban development and unlocking broader economic, health and educational benefits.
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Approximately 70% of urban housing in the Global South is built informally and incrementally by households themselves. Families often begin living in homes with only the most basic features and build at the pace of their ability to finance additional construction. Work starts and stops as resources become available, often resulting in deterioration of supplies, higher costs and inconsistent housing quality.
We collaborate with families, communities, governments and market actors to drive progress toward achieving adequate housing in self-built settlements. Habitat for Humanity engages in these initiatives in various ways, based on contextual needs: convening multistakeholder coalitions and advocating for favorable regulatory frameworks for upgrading; facilitating participatory assessments and mapping; facilitating the empowered participation of communities and traditionally excluded groups; promoting access to secure and inclusive land tenure; upgrading basic services and infrastructure; improving housing habitability and resilience; developing financial mechanisms for affordable solutions; and fostering local markets and livelihoods.
Case studies:
Community-centered relocation action plan in Kenya
Revitalization of Kampung Tanjung Kait in IndonesiaRelated publications:
Home Equals launch report
Issue brief: Climate migration and informal settlements
Working paper: Climate Adaptation Through Housing
2 Tackling climate change through adequate housing
Upgrading the existing housing stock and repurposing underutilized urban areas is a key solution to tackling housing affordability, adequacy and sustainability. This approach optimizes land use, addresses climate vulnerability and lowers the carbon footprint, while keeping residents at the center and protecting cultural heritage.
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The buildings and construction sectors account for nearly 40% of global CO2 emissions and 36% of global energy use. Addressing the housing deficit while reducing the carbon footprint of buildings and curbing urban sprawl is critical.
This model prioritizes working with the existing housing stock and vacant properties as a strategy to pursue climate neutrality and reduce climate vulnerability. These efforts include mapping and identifying vacant, underused or decaying spaces; advocating for climate-resilient policies and funding for adaptation projects; preparing residents for the financial and organizational demands of renovations; and developing microfinance and subsidy programs to support households in implementing resilience and energy efficiency measures.
Additional initiatives involve creating community carbon-neutral housing plans, establishing resource centers and one-stop shops, retrofitting vacant spaces or existing buildings for affordable housing, and integrating energy-efficient technologies and designs.
Case studies:
ComActivate in Bulgaria, Hungary and Lithuania
Empty Spaces to Homes project in Poland, Great Britain, Hungary and CroatiaRelated publication:
3 “Pathways to Permanence” in urban crises
Responding to shelter needs in urban crises requires comprehensive, area-based and participatory approaches that support affected communities to transition from emergency to stability and long-term multi-dimensional development.
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Responses to crises — whether from natural or man-made hazards, mass migration or conflict — must be tailored to the specific characteristics and root causes of the crisis.
Habitat for Humanity’s “Pathways to Permanence” approach builds resilience by identifying context-specific hazards and vulnerabilities and addressing them through a wide range of interventions that go beyond structural and non-structural adaptation measures, aiming to restore the social, economic and cultural life of communities.
The approach supports a gradual progression from emergency shelter to adequate housing and settlements, with a clear humanitarian-development link. In urban contexts, this approach prioritizes area-based interventions, using existing community participation, coordination and governance mechanisms to foster holistic recovery processes in specific neighborhoods.
Case studies:
Middle East Refugee Crisis Initiative in Jordan
Puerto Rico Recovery ProgramRelated publication:
Disaster Recovery and Resilience Shelter Catalogue: Working in Urban Environments
4 Diversifying housing tenures for affordability
Homeownership remains an aspiration for most families worldwide. However, in the face of entrenched barriers in urban land and financial markets and the dynamics of urban job markets, alternative housing tenure models based on collective land ownership, flexible and fair rental schemes, and transitional solutions that build stability are essential in meeting the housing affordability challenge.
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While homeownership remains an aspiration for most families worldwide, systemic dysfunctions in urban land and global financial markets, along with speculative investments and rising property prices, have made it unattainable for the majority of low- and middle-income families.
Moreover, shifting dynamics in urban job markets necessitate flexible housing solutions to accommodate families and individuals facing changes in accessibility and employment stability.
Habitat for Humanity supports alternative housing tenure solutions that provide access to adequate, stable and affordable homes in urban settings. These include assisted rental solutions tailored for vulnerable groups like young families and displaced populations, community land trusts (CLTs) that ensure long-term affordability by separating land from housing ownership, and rent-to-own agreements that offer a gradual path from renting to homeownership.
Case studies:
Zero Eviction Campaign in Brazil
Habitat Condominiums of Cordillera in Honduras
5Addressing urban inequality through targeted housing programs
Adequate housing is essential for advancing urban and social inclusion. Sensible legal frameworks, thoughtful design features and tailored financial schemes can play a transformative role in combating systemic discrimination and ensuring no one is left behind.
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The historic and systemic marginalization of certain social groups represents a critical urban challenge. Women, racialized populations, older adults, informal workers, migrants and refugees face heightened vulnerability and discrimination, particularly in accessing essential services like housing.
Habitat for Humanity is dedicated to addressing these disparities through targeted housing programs. Our initiatives aim to dismantle legal barriers, build capacities, build tenure security, adapt housing solutions to evolving needs and create tailored financial models that support the unique requirements of these marginalized communities.
Case studies:
Aging in Place in Hong Kong
Towards Healthy, Environmental, and Safe Housing project in Egypt
Advancing Black Homeownership in the U.S.
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Habitat for Humanity will participate in the 12th session of the World Urban Forum convened by UN-Habitat in Cairo from Nov. 4-8, 2024. In line with the forum’s theme, “It All Starts at Home: Local Actions for Sustainable Cities and Communities,” Habitat will showcase five models of urban intervention that have transformed communities worldwide.
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Home Equals is a five-year global advocacy campaign committed to achieving policy change to ensure that people living in informal settlements have equitable access to adequate housing. Together, with partners, governments and communities, we can create lasting change.