Housing is central to people’s lives and their wellbeing. Making housing affordable and adequate is one of the most important policy challenges at both national and local level, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic when people need to spend more time at home than ever before.
The challenges of housing affordability and sustainability are affecting cities, especially those which are densely populated. Closure of commercial services in urban areas in light of the crisis has led to a decrease in economic activities in cities, thus putting pressure on businesses and their profitability which directly translates into inability of businesses to sustain the workforce.
Housing sustainability challenges and approaches to addressing them differ from country to country. Given the diverse national and local contexts of the housing sector, and the diverse legal frameworks and living traditions within the UNECE region, there is no one solution that fits all. Sharing and exchanging experiences and good practices allows the formulation of viable solutions and policies appropriate for specific national and local contexts.
The side event will present the report of the study “Housing2030: Effective policies for affordable housing in the UNECE region” which have been developed by the UNECE in cooperation with Housing Europe, UN-Habitat and other partners. The #Housing2030 studyand an online platform were launched on 6 October 2021 at the UNECE Ministerial Meeting on Urban Development, Housing and Land Management.
The II Forum of Mayor’s side event will support the regional exchange of experiences and good practices in countries of the UNECE region and beyond on promoting access to decent, adequate, affordable and healthy housing as part of the countries’ responses to, and recovery plans for the COVID-19 pandemic (this will include the topics of “greening” cities and housing, using architectural and urban planning solutions and innovations to promote better quality of life, etc).
Link to the recorded event:
Registration link:
https://indico.un.org/event/1000573/
Streaming link:
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