UN-Habitat: Informal settlements must be removed, new homes built

Countries must eliminate informal settlements and build new homes, Anacláudia Rossbach, Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), said during an event held within the 13th Session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) in Baku, Report informs.

Rossbach noted the need for societal consensus on how to address the housing problem and crisis: "We must remove informal settlements, build new homes, and determine how and what type of homes we will construct. Are we talking about isolated urban sprawl, or about balanced densification and more compact cities in line with the principles of the New Urban Agenda? Because all of this will affect our costs. Land and housing are the most expensive resources in the value chain. That is why what we do is so important, and in this sense, gaining society's support is critically significant."