Urban living plan
Introduction
Habitat III, the United Nations conference on housing and sustainable urban development, was held in Quito, Ecuador, from October 17 to 20, 2016.
These housing conferences, called Habitat, are held every 20 years. Habitat I took place in 1976 and Habitat II in 1996. The UN General Assembly decided in its resolution 66/207 to celebrate Habitat III. This conference reinvigorates the global commitment to sustainable urbanization, focusing on the implementation of the “New Urban Agenda”.
Habitat III was one of the first UN summits after the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It gave the opportunity to open the discussion on important urban challenges and issues, such as the planning and management of cities and towns for sustainable development. The discussion of these issues shapes the application of the new development and climate change objectives. In particular, Habitat III is based on sustainable development goal number 11: “make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.”[1].
Background
Habitat II, the second UN conference on human settlements, was held in Istanbul, Turkey, from 3 to 14 June 1996. The outcomes of the conference were integrated into the Istanbul Declaration.[2] World leaders also adopted the Habitat Agenda[3] as a global plan of action to ensure that all people have adequate shelter, with the notion of sustainable human settlements guiding development on a planet that is urbanizes rapidly.
Habitat I was the first conference of its kind. It was held in Vancouver, Canada, from May 31 to June 11, 1976. At it, governments began to recognize the need for sustainable human settlements and the consequences of rapid urbanization, especially in developing countries. The results of the conference were integrated into the Vancouver Declaration on Human Settlements,[4] which contained an action plan with 64 national recommendations. Habitat I also established the United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN-HABITAT).
Structure
General Secretary
Joan Clos, mayor of Barcelona from 1997 to 2006 and executive director of UN-HABITAT since 2010, was also the secretary general of the Habitat III conference.[5].