11 April 2016: Two thematic meetings in preparation for the UN Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) took place during the first week of April: on public spaces, in Barcelona, Spain, and on informal settlements, in Pretoria, South Africa. Addressing the meeting on public spaces, Joan Clos, Habitat III Secretary-General and former mayor of Barcelona, lamented that the quantity of public spaces has been decreasing in cities in tandem with the privatization of urban planning, and called for a paradigm shift.

UN-Habitat describes public spaces as: publicly or privately owned land designated for public use; accessible and free of charge to all citizens without restrictions; and critical for environmental sustainability, through the promotion of the use of public transportation, biking and walking, and the presence of vegetation and green spaces. It also notes that well-designed and maintained streets and public infrastructure help lower crime rates. Target 11.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) calls for universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces by 2030.

The Habitat III Thematic Meeting on Public Spaces met from 4-5 April 2016, and resulted in the Barcelona Declaration on Public Spaces, which will be an official input to the New Urban Agenda, the expected outcome of Habitat III. The Declaration calls for an approach to public spaces that goes beyond physical boundaries and addresses ‘Agora’ (its social and political dimension), mobility, economy and housing. On enhancing the social and political dimension, the Declaration highlights: accessibility and inclusivity; versatility; recreation and health; cultural and political expression; conflict resolution and cohabitation; and governance. On economy, it calls for sustainability and democratic control of urban supplies and waste, balanced production of wealth and responsible consumption. For mobility, the Declaration emphasizes moving towards a “Post-Car-City” paradigm, and implementing democratic and sustainable public transport networks. On housing, the Declaration identifies: the right to adequate housing; the social function of land, property and the city; and housing policies and tools.

The Habitat III Thematic Meeting on Informal Settlements convened in Pretoria, South Africa, from 7-8 April 2016. The resulting Pretoria Declaration on Informal Settlements outlines policy recommendations to be considered as an official input to the New Urban Agenda. The Declaration supports: a human rights-based approach in slum upgrading and urban renewal efforts; South-South learning in improving capacities in upgrading; increased efforts to ensure access to affordable basic services; and security of tenure, basic urban services and housing as a prerequisite to sustainable incremental slum upgrading. It also calls for: credible and timely data to understand the situation in informal settlements and to implement upgrading programmes; decentralization of data collection; and a new comprehensive financing framework.

The Declaration calls for the New Urban Agenda to, inter alia: advance inclusive urban, land, fiscal and housing policies, legislation and governance frameworks; empower women living in informal settlements; transform informal settlements through incremental participatory slum upgrading; improve urban governance and management; support participatory urban planning and design; address tenure security for slum dwellers; realize the right to adequate housing for all; and equip national and local authorities, as well as slum dwellers, with strategic partnerships and financing strategies for participatory sustainable slum upgrading and prevention.

Addressing the meeting, Clos said SDG 11 is an extension of an idea initiated by the Habitat Agenda, and noted that over 100 countries have adopted constitutional rights to adequate housing.

In addition to the thematic meetings to develop the New Urban Agenda in advance of Habitat III, regional meetings were held and a series of informal meetings will take place in the coming months, culminating in PrepCom 3 from 25-27 July 2016, in Surabaya, Indonesia. Habitat III will convene in Quito, Ecuador, in October 2016.

Habitat I was held in Vancouver, Canada, in 1976, while Habitat II convened in Istanbul, Turkey, in 1996. [Public Spaces Meeting Website] [Public Spaces Meeting Press Release] [Barcelona Declaration on Public Spaces] [Informal Settlements Meeting Website] [Statement of Habitat III Secretary-General at Informal Settlements Meeting] [Pretoria Declaration on Informal Settlements]