Housing is fundamental to achieving SDG 11’s vision of inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities and communities. Yet, despite this central role, the interlinkages between adequate housing and progress across the ten targets of Goal 11 have received limited systematic attention.
The 2026 edition of the SDG 11 Global Report addresses this gap by placing housing at the centre of its analysis of global urban progress. Building on the 2018 and 2023 editions of the report, it examines how housing conditions, systems and policy choices shape outcomes across transport, urban planning, environmental quality, disaster risk reduction, public space, heritage and local implementation.
The report finds that, while progress is visible in areas such as public transport access, municipal waste collection, national urban policy and disaster risk reduction planning, SDG 11 remains off track overall. Housing inadequacy and affordability pressures continue to deepen, public space and green areas remain under pressure, air pollution remains far above safe levels, and disaster impacts continue to affect millions of people each year.
The report also highlights persistent gaps in urban data, particularly in the disaggregation needed to understand inequalities affecting people in vulnerable situations, and at city and neighbourhood levels. While methodological innovation, Earth observation, artificial intelligence, partnerships and voluntary reporting are expanding the possibilities for urban monitoring, conventional data collection systems remain underfunded and uneven. To complement official indicator monitoring, the report introduces an experimental AI-assisted analysis of Voluntary National Reviews, providing a supplementary perspective on how countries are framing SDG 11 priorities in national reporting.
Prepared by UN-Habitat in coordination with United Nations custodian agencies and with contributions from partners and stakeholders, the report provides evidence, practical examples and recommendations to help accelerate progress on SDG 11 in the final years to 2030.
Share