Side event: #Housing2030, effective policies for affordable housing in the UNECE region
Geneva
Switzerland
-
Doris Andoni
Chair, Committee on Urban Development, Housing and Land Management, UNECE (Albania) -
Gulnara Roll
Regional Advisor, Forests, Land and Housing Division, UNECE -
Elena Szolgayova
#Housing2030 Initiative Co-Chair, Bratislava, Slovakia -
Julie Lawson
Lead Writer of the study report #Housing2030 Initiative; Associate Professor, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia -
Ángela Baldellou
Executive Director of UIA International Forum "Affordable Housing Activation. Removing Barriers", Madrid, Spain -
Brian Evans
City Urbanist, City of Glasgow, Scotland; Director of UNECE Centre of Excellence on Smart Sustainable Cities -
Robert Lewis-Lettington
Chief, Land, Housing and Shelter Section, UN-Habitat, Nairobi, Kenya -
Luci Ann Blackburn
Director of Choice Neighbourhoods, Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Housing Investment (OPHI), USA -
Uğur İbrahim Altay
Mayor of Konya, Turkey -
Omar Al-Rawi
Member of the Council Committee for European and International Affairs, Urban Planning and Mobility, Vienna, Austria -
Hana Daoudi
Secretary to the Committee on Urban Development, Housing and Land Management, UNECE
OPENING
Session 1
Session 2
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 study and 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).
The UNECE organizes the side event in cooperation with the UIA International Forum: Affordable Housing Activation (AHA).
VENUE
Hybrid; H-Building, Room H-207, Palais des Nations Geneva Switzerland
To attend UNECE meetings at the Palais des Nations, you must register in advance online on the relevant conference/meeting’s webpage.
Delegates enter the Palais through the Pregny Gate (Portail Pregny - see map) entrance, which faces the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) headquarters on the Route de Pregny. In order to obtain your identity badge from the Security Services, you will be asked to present a valid passport or a national identity card. Your badge is strictly for your own personal use. Please note that delays here are common and lengthy and delegates are unfortunately required to wait in the open air.
