Housing at the core of human development

Solutions for shelter and inequality

May 18, 2026

Around the world, nearly 3 billion people lack adequate housing. UNDP works with national and local governments across the world to address the root causes of this housing crisis.

We live in an increasingly urbanized world. More than half of us live in cities; by 2050, that number is expected to rise to two thirds.

At the same time, there is a global housing crisis.

Nearly 3 billion people, around 40 percent of the world’s population, face some sort of housing inadequacy. That includes more than 300 million people who are homeless and 1.1 billion who live in informal settlements or slums. The problem is most acute in places that are rapidly urbanizing.

The 13^th World Urban Forum (WUF13), with the theme ‘Housing the World: Safe and Resilient Cities and Communities’, aims to find ways to ensure safe, affordable and climate-resilient homes for everybody. Taking place in Baku, Azerbaijan, the Forum explores the new economic opportunities arising from sustainable cities.

a crowded city street filled with lots of traffic — With over half of the world's population now living in urban areas, effective governance is essential to manage resources, services and infrastructure.

Photo: Pexels/Suzukii Xingfu

Cities = opportunities + challenges

Adequate housing is a human right and is a foundation of the 2030 Agenda, particularly Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 on sustainable cities and communities. Realizing that right requires tackling urban poverty, inequality, climate vulnerability and weak governance simultaneously.

Fifty-four percent of the world’s city dwellers live in the Asia Pacific region, which is home to 17 megacities, with populations of more than 10 million.

UNDP works with national and local governments across the world to address the root causes of the housing crisis and urban poverty, alongside the lack of socio-economic opportunities.

UNDP’s Urban Governance for the Future initiative addresses the complex challenges cities face, from climate shocks to inequality to harnessing the power of new technology. It assists governments that often operate with limited resources and struggle to keep pace with rapid economic, social and environmental change.

Africa’s urban century

Africa is the world's fastest urbanizing region. Photo: UNDP Liberia

Africa is urbanizing faster not just than any other region—and faster than any people in recorded history. Its population will rise from nearly 1.6 billion today to 2.5 billion by 2050, and most of them will live in cities. This transformation, if well managed, represents one of the greatest development opportunities of the 21^st Century.

Fifty percent of Africa’s city dwellers live in informal settlements, often without adequate housing, water or sanitation.

The Africa Urban Resilience Programme is a coalition that supports leaders and community members as they confront the challenges of a changing climate, ensuring that rapid urbanization becomes a driver of sustainable development rather than a source of new vulnerabilities.

It brings together the African Union Commission, UNDP, UN-Habitat and the UN Environment Programme, and is backed by the German Development Agency’s Resilience Initiative. Its recently launched flagship report provides a data-picture of urban risk and identifies opportunities to build resilience.

“Africa's urban challenge is not only about managing risk. It is about managing transformation.”

—Zeynu Ummer, UNDP Resilience Hub Director

Local environments, local priorities

UNDP programming is tailored to specific contexts and designed to build lasting local ownership.

In Uruguay, we work with the Ministry of Housing to upgrade informal settlements, improving sanitation, roads and lighting, and strengthening institutional capacity to sustain these gains.

The Sustainable Cities Project in Turkmenistan supports energy-efficient public lighting and sustainable transport in the capital, Ashgabat, and the new resort zone of the Caspian Sea city of Awaza.

In Iraq, UNDP is rebuilding more than 35,000 houses and supporting families as they return home after years of conflict-driven displacement.

In Marrakech, Morocco, we supported sustainable urban planning and financing, including through low-carbon investment strategies for mobility and energy efficiency, and the rehabilitation of green spaces. Financed by a US$9.4 million grant from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), this initiative is leveraging $461 million in co-financing. These efforts are part of our partnership with GEF on the Sustainable Cities Programme, reaching 90 cities in 33 countries.

In Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Mauritania and Senegal, UNDP-supported programmes are reviving locally-rooted construction techniques. The Nubian vault method—more than 3,500 years old—uses mud bricks and mortar that are durable, low cost and naturally protective against extreme heat. More than 7,000 homes have been constructed for 12,000 people.

Crises and housing

Housing is directly linked to the climate crisis and to conflict. As of 2025, more than 120 million people are estimated to be forcibly displaced, and many end up in cities ill-equipped to absorb them. Women, children, people with disabilities, minority groups and the elderly face the greatest risks.

About 10 percent of the world’s population lives within 5 kilometres of a coast. By the end of the century, around 70 million people in hundreds of coastal cities, will face five times greater flood risk than they do today.

By 2050, the climate crisis is projected to erase 9 percent, approximately $25 trillion, from the value of the global housing market.

Promoting sustainable and resilient cities is central to UNDP’s Climate Promise, which integrates climate action, low-carbon development and risk-informed city planning, working towards cities that are resource efficient, disaster resilient and socially just.

A man in light clothing holding a long handled tool in front of a modest metal building..

Woman in black hijab sits on a patterned rug looking over papers inside a shelter with metal doors behind her.

Rows of blue and white tents fill a dusty refugee camp under a clear blue sky.

Man with two children sits outside a bright blue wooden house.

Photograph of a crowd gathered on a dirt road beside blue and white houses.

Photograph of a brick building with leafy trees above and a person at a window.

Blue room seen through orange doorway, with desks, shelves, a window, and a red-tiled floor.

Two elderly women stand outside a rustic bamboo-fronted building with a wooden balcony.

For families affected by conflict or disaster, a safe home can provide stability and a strong foundation to rebuild their lives. Photos: UNDP PAPP, UNDP DRC and UNDP Myanmar

Supported by the Republic of Korea, the REVIVE programme promotes early recovery in crises, with housing as a crucial entry point, rooted in the principle that recovery must be built on safe, secure and equitable foundations.

From providing Rapid Housing Units in Gaza, to clearing rubble and rebuilding homes in earthquake-devastated Myanmar, to supporting newly returned families in Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, UNDP’s approach prioritizes dignity, speed and long-term sustainability in equal measure.

“With this new unit, we sit in it and we are comfortable. We eat, drink and sleep safely. It has privacy, it has protection, it has many advantages. This solid tent is better; it's like I am in my house. I don't feel that I am in a camp. Also, because it has provided us with a solar-powered light, I don't have to go outside in search of light.”

—Qamar, Gaza

Opportunities in housing

The World Urban Forum is a moment to reframe housing not as a cost but as an investment in people, cities and our planet. UNDP’s integrated approach, spanning governance, financing, climate resilience and community ownership, helps governments unlock that potential and turn it into lasting, equitable progress towards the 2030 Agenda.