
Lessons learned from Habitat I, II towards Habitat III – Han (Henricus) VERSCHURE, University of Leuven (KULeuven)
Main themes
Sustainable Cities
Slum Upgrading
Planning and Design
Evaluation
Capacity Development
Title
Lessons learned from Habitat I, II towards Habitat III
Focus
What lessons can we learn from HABITAT I, II towards Habitat III : utopia versus reality (intentions, obstacles, perspectives)
Issues which the lecture addresses
The lecture is based on my evaluation of 40 years of work on Human Settlements issues, having participated in Habitat I, Habitat II, and in the preparation of Habitat III. I also particpated in most World Urban Fora
Short analysis of the above issues
As early as Habitat I, many good proposals and agreements were formulated to tackle the issues of what was then called “Exploding Cities” (video of UNHABITAT prepared shortly after 1976). Similarly during Habitat II again several good proposasl and agreements were formulated, including the application of the Agenda 21 to the HABITAT Agenda and the application to the Millenium Development Goals.
Propositions for addressing the issue
The gap between agreements and reality has remained large after each of the major HABITAT World Conferences. Propositions centre on
1)The increasing condraction between well intended strenghtening of Public Policies to meet challenges of Urbanization and the realities of a decrease of public policies involvement under increasing neo-liberal market forces
2)The contradiction between increasing willingness and demands from civil society and from local authorities to be involved in decisionmaking in making cities more sustainable, and the lreluctance of national authorities to effectuate devolution of powers and related budgets to the local levels.
3)The lack of specific monitoring and possibly sanctionning of those national, regional or local partners (both public and private) who substantially violate agreements approved during Habitat I and II and as part of the preparation of the New Urban Agenda.
Additional Reading Materials
“Territory, Authority, Rights: From Medieval to Global Assemblages” by Saskia Sassen
ISBN: 9780691136455, 512 pp.
“Ten essentials for the New Urban Agenda in one page”
Policy and planning Urban, David Satterthwaite and Cassidy Johnson Blogs, 19 July 2016 @Dsatterthwaite
“Shelter / Need and Response”, Jorge Hardoy and David Satterthwaite, John Wiley, 1981