World Habitat Day

The United Nations designated the first Monday of October of every year as World Habitat Day to reflect on the state of our towns and cities, and on the basic right of all to adequate shelter. It also reminds us we all have the power and the responsibility to shape the future of our cities and towns.

The purpose of World Habitat Day is to reflect on the state of our towns and cities, and on the basic right of all to adequate shelter. It is also intended to remind the world that we all have the power and the responsibility to shape the future of our cities and towns. World Habitat Day was established in 1985 by the United Nations General Assembly through Resolution 40/202, and was first celebrated in 1986. 

World Habitat Day 2023

On 2 October 2023, the Global Observance of World Habitat Day, under the theme "Resilient urban economies. Cities as drivers of growth and recovery", looks at how cities can position their economies to benefit residents.

2023 has been a particularly challenging year for Urban Economies. The global economy growth itself is
declining to about 2.5% and, apart from the initial COVID-19 crisis in 2020 and the global financial crisis in
2009, this is the weakest growth experienced since 2001.

Given the size of the contribution of cities to the national economy, the future of many countries will be
determined by the productivity of its urban areas.

 Cities are the engines that create value that boosts economic recovery. For this economic growth and recovery to be sustainable, we need cities that can absorb, recover, and prepare for future economic shocks. It is crucial that this is also packaged under the green recovery framework that scales up private and public investments to finance the transition to a climate-neutral economy in a post-COVID world. Cities all over the world have already embarked on this journey through implementing various models.

This year’s World Habitat Day aims to convene various city stakeholders to discuss the ways in which cities can be primed for recovery following the global intersecting negative economic shocks of COVID-19 and conflicts by:

• Broaching the different dimensions of economic slowdown that cities are currently experiencing and identifying actions that cities can take to boost economic recovery.
• Sharing experiences among different cities on how they are positioning themselves to tackle inflationary pressures and other tight global financial conditions.

The key priorities for tackling urban poverty and inequality in cities as highlighted by the UN-Habitat World Cities Report (2022) include the following:

• Extending infrastructure and services to under-serviced communities.
• Recognizing the informal sector workers for their legitimate contribution to livelihoods and supplying goods and services that keep the city’s formal economy running.
• Inclusive and gender transformative approaches that promote resilience to multiple crises by using local knowledge in the face of uncertainty.
• Place-based interventions to build resilience in “urban weak spots” such as slums and informal settlements.
• Bottom-up urban resilience in the planning, governance, and management of cities.

Source : UN Habitat