Anaclaudia Rossbach: At WUF13, heads of state discussed housing policy together for the first time

UN-Habitat Executive Director Anaclaudia Rossbach called for new multilateral cooperation to address the global housing crisis.

As reported by BAKU.WS with reference to APA, at the event "Advancing Housing through Multilateral Cooperation: From Global Commitments to Local Impact" within the framework of WUF13, she stated that during the discussions, particular attention was paid to the global housing crisis, inequality in access to data, and a new model of multilateral cooperation.

"To address the existing problems in the field of housing and urban development, it is not enough to rely solely on scientific research. It is necessary to more actively involve practitioners in the process and apply a 'co-production' approach. There are significant differences between the Global North and the Global South in terms of access to data and institutional capacities. The lack of access to certain data or their 'closed' nature negatively affects the decision-making process. Therefore, many practitioners do not have the opportunity to document their activities and build databases. In this regard, strengthening cooperation between states, societies, and international organizations is required.

There is also a gap between the political and technical spheres. Urban planning and housing policy are not only technical but also political in nature, especially in matters of land use, where serious political decisions play an important role. Within the framework of WUF13, an important step was that for the first time, heads of state and experts gathered on a single platform and discussed urban planning and housing policy at a technical level."