AN INITATIVE OF
Side event at the II Forum of Mayors 2022
Find the side event programme at the following link
The side event recording is available at the following link
6th April 2022, Thursday – from 15:00 to 17:00 CET
Venue: Conference Room H-207-209, Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland
Format: The meeting will be hybrid, held in-person and online via Teams.
Background
Housing is central to people’s lives and their wellbeing. Making housing affordable and adequate
is one of the most important policy challenges at both national and local level, especially in the
context of the COVID-19 pandemic when people need to spend more time at home than ever
before.
The challenges of housing affordability and sustainability are affecting cities, especially those
which are densely populated. Closure of commercial services in urban areas in light of the crisis
has led to a decrease in economic activities in cities, thus putting pressure on businesses and their
profitability which directly translates into inability of businesses to sustain the workforce.
Housing sustainability challenges and approaches to addressing them differ from country to
country. Given the diverse national and local contexts of the housing sector, and the diverse legal
frameworks and living traditions within the UNECE region, there is no one solution that fits all.
Sharing and exchanging experiences and good practices allows the formulation of viable solutions
and policies appropriate for specific national and local contexts.
The side event presented the report of the study “Housing2030: Effective policies for affordable
housing in the UNECE region” which have been developed by the UNECE in cooperation with
Housing Europe, UN-Habitat and other partners. The #Housing2030 study and an online
platform were launched on 6 October 2021 at the UNECE Ministerial Meeting on Urban
Development, Housing and Land Management.
The II Forum of Mayor’s side event will support the regional exchange of experiences and good
practices in countries of the UNECE region and beyond on promoting access to decent, adequate,
affordable and healthy housing as part of the countries’ responses to, and recovery plans for the
COVID-19 pandemic (this will include the topics of “greening” cities and housing, using
architectural and urban planning solutions and innovations to promote better quality of life, etc).
The UNECE organizes the side event in cooperation with the UIA International Forum: Affordable
Housing Activation (AHA).
