Roughly half the world’s population lives in towns or cities. In many countries in the South, the urban population is rising fast. In others, including the Netherlands, city populations are fairly stable. Living in the city can be pleasant, but the quality of life there is not always optimal.
For example, houses are clustered too closely together with little in the way of green spaces between them. Certain neighbourhoods become run down. There is little sense of community. People do not feel safe on their own streets. Living conditions are poor and facilities few and far between. Unemployment is high and there aren´t enough schools. The population continues to increase and the growth in traffic leads to air pollution. The water isn’t safe to drink.
These problems occur all over the world. We in the Netherlands are familiar with many of them. Numerous attempts are being made to tackle the problem, some more successful than others.
In 1996 the Second UN Conference on Human Settlements (HABITAT II) took place in Istanbul. The outcome was the Habitat Agenda, which has two central objectives:
Many countries which participated in te Conference have taken steps to implement the Habitat Agenda. The Netherland, which initiated the Habitat Platform, among them.
In addition over 600 recommendations were made to achieve these goals.
UN-Habitat in Nairobi, Kenya, supports the implementation of the Habitat Agenda by issuing manuals, collecting best practices, and by developing housing and urban indicators for measuring its results.