Habitat III

Habitat III, the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development, took place in Quito, Ecuador, from 17 – 20 October 2016.

The UN Conferences on Housing (Habitat) are occurring in the bi-decennial cycle (1976, 1996 and 2016). The United Nations General Assembly decided to convene The Habitat III Conference in its resolution 66/207. The Habitat III Conference reinvigorates the global commitment to sustainable urbanization, to focus on the implementation of a “New Urban Agenda”.

Habitat III was one of the first United Nations global summits after the adoption of the Post-2015 Development Agenda. It gave the opportunity to open discussions on important urban challenges and questions, such as how to plan and manage cities, towns and villages for sustainable development. The discussion of these questions shapes the implementation of new global development and climate change goals. In particular, the conference elaborates on Goal #11 of the Sustainable Development Goals: "Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable."^[1]