This is UN-Habitat’s sixth and final annual progress report on the implementation of the strategic plan 2014—2019. The report presents an analysis of progress on indicators against set targets for each expected accomplishment over the Strategic Plan period (2014—2019). Key achievements and detailed results across all scales are presented. Impact stories demonstrate the concrete and practical ways that UN-Habitat has transformed the lives of beneficiaries.

The 2019 report highlights achievements in one of UN-Habitat’s key areas of strength, transformative normative tools and knowledge products. These are providing important norms and standards that are strengthening member states’ capacity to deliver sustainable urbanization. The Secretary-General’s Guidance Note on Land and Conflict, the Safer Cities Guidelines and the Urban-Rural Linkages Guiding Principles and Framework, for example, are setting principles for the global community on sustainable urbanization planning, how to leverage the urban-rural divide for strengthened sustainable urbanization and guidelines for making cities safer. Harmonized methodologies to guide the Sustainable Development Goals global monitoring of sustainable urbanization were developed, such as the definition of cities and refining the slum area-based definition to improve its clarity and relevance.

Robust results and impacts were realized from programmatic work across some subprogrammes. The Planning Lab, for example, continues to provide technical support to member states on planning and design for inclusive, compact and integrated cities. Through the Public Space programme made cities more inclusive for some 445,000 people—many of whom are girls and women, in 2019 alone.

UN-Habitat is also making a unique contribution to humanitarian and post-conflict settlement planning through the integrated and inclusive urban tools that deliver sustainable change to beneficiaries.

UN-Habitat’s resilience profiling and planning tools successfully supported cities to become more climate-resilient in Africa, Asia and Pacific regions. The reconstruction and resilience work in Mozambique, undertaken through the school’s programme to strengthen their structures, for example, demonstrated the benefits of cyclone resilient designs. The Global Land Tool Network, which uses an inclusive approach to tenure security through the continuum of land rights, has expanded tenure security for over 300,000 households (approximately 1.2 million people) in 13 countries over the past six years.

Important institutional milestones were achieved in 2019. The first UN-Habitat Assembly was successfully held 27th - 31st May 2019. The Assembly approved the new Strategic Plan 2020—2023. In 2019, a new organization structure was developed and approved by the Executive Board and its implementation commenced in January 2020.

Annual Report: 2020 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015

Urban Chances, City Growth and The Sustainability Challenge: Chance2Sustain is a research programme that examined how governments and citizens in cities with differing patterns of urban economic growth make use of participatory (or integrated) spatial knowledge management to direct urban governance towards more sustainable development. Participatory spatial knowledge management is the main concept used to study this issue, as it reflects a strategic resource, which all stakeholders can contribute to urban governance processes towards sustainable development.

It includes both expert knowledge and several forms of non-expert knowledge, such as knowledge from (working) experience (tacit), embedded sectoral knowledge, and social (or community-based) knowledge at the  neighbourhood and city-wide level. Participatory processes of urban planning and management are strategic in eliciting these forms of spatially disaggregated (of specific) knowledge, which are usually not acknowledged in topdown, expert-driven models of urban governance and planning. Utilizing participatory spatial knowledge can make urban governance and planning more effective and gain wider acceptance, by incorporating both expert and local community knowledge. Although participatory spatial knowledge management is increasingly used in urban planning processes, its success depends on external political and economic conditions.

A legal framework providing for fiscal decentralisation and funding, for instance, is a strategic support. The influence of various external conditions has not yet been analysed much locally, and certainly not comparatively across different socio-political contexts, although it is a strategic question, given the inherent trade-offs and potential  political conflicts in combining environmental, social and economic goals (within sustainable development). Therefore, the programme focused on ten cities with contrasting economic and political conditions, with the main scientific objective of developing a model on participatory spatial knowledge management to direct urban governance to sustainable development.
The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) was a dissemination partner for the research programme. This report summarizes the findings of the research and contains two policy briefs targeted at policy makers and practitioners.

Global commitment to the inclusive right to adequate housing was renewed at the Third United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development – Habitat III. Housing will hence prove central to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 11: ‘Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable’.

Across the  Arab region, around 18 % of residents live under each country’s national poverty line, with significant variation between the Gulf countries, which have an average per capita income of USD 29,000, and the Southern Tier countries (not including Somalia), which have an average per capita income of USD 1,300. Also significant disparities continue to exist between rural and urban areas. Informal Settlements have become the reflection of the mirror of poverty and lack of access to adequate housing.

Slums versus informal settlements: the term 'slum' is a "general context to describe a wide range of low-income settlements and/or poor human living conditions". Different criteria are used to define slums include physical, spatial, social and behavioral criterion. Informal or spontaneous settlements are settlements whereby persons, or squatters, assert land rights or occupy for exploitation of land which is not registered in their names, or government land, or land legally owned by other individuals. Squatters are people who occupy land or buildings without the explicit permission of the owner. The structures and location of the informal settlements of the region are characterized by two different patterns: substandard or makeshift structures in central slums, hazardous, and unsafe locations or suburban areas lacking access to basic services; and unplanned urban expansion mostly through the subdivision of agricultural land in violation of existing codes.

At this stage of the analysis, the data collection process was limited. It is based on two elements:

• A questionnaire filled by National focal points in some countries with variable quality and comprehensiveness of the information provided.
• Data based on literature review and research networks.
• Two-days Consultation workshop with representation from most Arab countries, development partners and civil society organizations where the data prepared was presented, discussed and further information was gathered in parallel thematic groups.

This report provides an overview of the status of informal settlements in the main Arab countries where data was accessible; explores the reasons of emergence, national definitions and forms of informality, national responding approaches and strategies; in addition to highlighting some useful case studies from these countries. This overview provides guidance to national governments by offering a preliminary framework for the preparation of national or local informal settlement upgrading strategies grounded in international and regional best practices and recognizing approaches and regional and national challenges.

The analysis of the different countries focused on the potential lessons learned through highlighting the  advancement level of their public policies responding to informal settlements, the mapping processes of their informal settlements, their physical state and socio-economic situations, the presence of pilot projects, and the involvement of the private sector or innovative finance mechanisms in the upgrading process.

Despite the data limitation, the review and analysis presented by country  conducted in this report enabled some observations on the common and specific challenges, the importance of social and economic aspects of informality, the need for innovative financial and governance mechanisms, and the importance of participation for sustainable strategies and programmes. The review of all approaches that have been addressed in different Arab countries and the examples of the different projects could be concluded in such in some main items as follows: The investment, financial and environmental impacts in most of cases not been tackled and there was concentration on the physical, and sometime social, aspects only. The sustainability of development aspects (financial, social, environmental) of projects has not been addressed in most of cases and there will be risks of sustainability of the development of the projects in future. This would emphasize the need for an integrated development approach to be embraced in development of informal settlement.

The overview also shows large possibility of cross learning among the region, specifically between comparable countries, or those whose political or governance situations are similar. The conclusion also highlights key cross cutting issues that have to be mainstreamed in upgrading approaches and programmes, namely: environment, migration and displacement, finance, gender, participation and local government.

Finally, the report lays out the way forward towards the formulation of the new programme -to be launched in WUF 10- “Towards Arab Cities without Informal areas” where this report and analysis present the first step, followed by the launch of a call for Arab cities to join the first phase of the programme supported by UN-Habitat in cooperation with the Islamic Development Bank. The regional programme will continue to learn from early implementation phases to support progressing of Arab cities that are inclusive, resilient and productive; integrating various sustainable goals and programs to ensure leaving no one, and nowhere behind.

Political upheaval or violent conflict is often characterised by a fundamental failure of governance, and the destruction of local economies, and yet in the aftermath of conflict people reconstruct their livelihoods and rebuild urban services through informal mechanisms of survival and support. This report explores the response of the urban informal economy to urban crises, its role in poverty reduction, peace building and development in post-conflict cities, and its scope as a platform for economic recovery and resilience. With a focus on urban areas in post-civil war settings, and on cities affected by ongoing turf wars, the research explores the complex drivers of conflict and the resilience and recovery of the informal economy.

The report is a synthesis of a three-year research project on Economic Recovery in Post-Conflict Cities: The Role of the Urban Informal Economy, funded under the DFID-ESRC Joint Fund for Poverty Alleviation Research (Project ES-M008789-1). Fieldwork was carried out in five cities: Cali, Colombia; Dohuk, N. Iraq; Hargeisa, Somaliland; Karachi, Pakistan, and Kathmandu, Nepal. Each city was selected to explore the different facets of conflict and violence in order to study the informal economy’s crisis response in the widest possible contexts

Currently, in Latin America, 78.0% of the population lives in cities, mainly in the capitals. This trend is also experienced by Colombia, with the great advantage that said population concentration is distributed in a system of 64 cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants, being Bogotá, in addition to the country's capital, the most important agglomeration. The effects of rapid urbanization in the country and the continent have made it possible to improve the coverage and access of large majorities to the goods and services of economic and social development, but it has also created new challenges, particularly for large metropolises. That is why the right to the city today acquires great relevance to guide public policies and the different forms of citizen participation.

The consideration that adequate housing as a basic unit for habitat construction represents an essential element of the right to the city and invites emphasis on its transformative attributes of quality of life and sustainable and inclusive urban development. The concept of habitat becomes more important because it addresses housing not only as an individual or family right but as a collective right of those who inhabit and enjoy cities.

The common challenge today is how to produce a habitat that helps "build a city." For this, it is necessary to move from housing policies to habitat policies, which consider the environments, plan the territory and the equipment and break the barriers of socio-spatial segregation.

For this reason, UN-Habitat proposes to return the “Housing at the centre” which should be understood not only as the centre of public policies, but also as the physical centre of cities, since construction in the peripheries not only does not responds adequately to the needs of the most disadvantaged groups, but the dispersion decreases, among others, the same productivity of the cities and their cohesion. Linked to this, the quality of housing and cities also depends on the ability to massively introduce alternatives to ways of building and the use of new materials. Eco-efficiency and eco-sustainability in the production of housing and habitat infrastructure not only improves the quality of life of urban dwellers and the resilience of cities but also generates new economic, work and innovation opportunities.

In all these areas, Bogotá represents a reference for the rest of Colombia. Not surprisingly, in the capital, about 2.7 million homes demand services with coverage and quality, being a huge challenge primarily for rulers and decision-makers. Therefore, the importance of a robust habitat policy by 2030, which undoubtedly contributes to providing conditions that boost housing supply and other habitat attributes, as well as access and opportunity in a context of equity, inclusion and prosperity.

This publication is a contribution to the formulation of this policy, under the leadership of the Habitat District Secretariat - SDHT. The results of the interdisciplinary work between UN-Habitat and the SDHT reveal disparities in the coverage and quality of housing, equipment and general habitat conditions between different areas of the city, so the achievements to come must translate into conditions of equity, cohesion, and prosperity for all citizens, taking into account the context of Bogotá and its metropolitan environment.

While 220 million people have been lifted out of slum conditions over the past 10 years, the number of people living in slum conditions is likely to grow by six million every year, to reach a total of 889 million by 2020. It is necessary to equip cities and their practitioners with the tools and capacities to anticipate and control urban growth and city officials will require knowledge, skills and methodologies that will allow them not only to upgrade existing slums but also prevent the appearance of new ones.  

This Guide advocates for a citywide approach to slum upgrading, which represents a fundamental shift from piecemeal project interventions to a citywide programme approach. This Practical Guide is part of a trilogy on citywide slum upgrading that includes Streets as Tools for Urban Transformation in Slums: A Street-led Approach to Citywide Slum Upgrading and A Training Module for Designing and Implementing Citywide Slum Upgrading. With the other two partner publications, the Practical Guide provides an accessible tool for practitioners, leading them through UN-Habitat steps towards a successful citywide slum-upgrading program.

The Global Activities Report 2015, takes into account the progress made in addressing UN-Habitat’s projects portfolio with a view to increasing its impact and facilitating national ownership. An encouraging trend during the current reporting period is that the earmarked portfolio has continued to grow, confirming rising demand for the Agency’s technical expertise.

This upward trend, consistent with UN-Habitat’s strategy to expand its earmarked projects portfolio, has been sustained, from a level of USD 136 million in 2012, to USD 171 million in 2013 – representing a 25 per cent increase, and to USD 172 million by November 2014.

These contributions have enabled UN-Habitat to provide strong support of more than USD 162 million in 2014 alone to 16 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, 18 countries in Asia and the Pacific, 9 countries in the Arab States region, and 19 countries in Lati America and the Caribbean, in addition to regional programmes and normative global initiatives.

This book documents the processes, challenges and related successes of a pilot project on slum upgrading in Soweto East villages of Kibera informal settlement, Nairobi. As a post project intervention assessment report, it focuses on distilling lessons learnt and best practices with a view of informing future strategies and policy decisions on slum upgrading interventions for similar urban settlements in any part of the world.

The process of community engagement and their role as an integral part of the Kenya Slum Upgrading Programme structure is a clear manifestation of the importance of public private partnership in forging a common front for the improvement of living standards for the slum populace.

La commune de Rutana s’étend sur une superficie de 255,31 km2, soit 13 % de la superficie de la province et 0,91 % de celle du pays. Son chef-lieu est la ville de Rutana, également chef-lieu de la province. La commune de Rutana est subdivisée en 2 zones (Rutana et Gitaba) composées de 38 collines de recensement.

La population était estimée à 54 121 habitants en 2008. elle est composée en majorité par des jeunes de moins de quinze ans. Le taux de croissance annuel moyen durant les vingt dernières années a été de 2,74 %. La population urbaine est estimée à 5 865 habitants, soit 10,6 % de la population de la commune.