The United Nations has designated the first Monday of October of every year as World Habitat Day to reflect on the state of our towns and cities, and on the basic right of all to adequate shelter. 

It also aims to remind the world that we all have the power and the responsibility to shape the future of our cities and towns.

Background

World Habitat Day was established in 1985 by the United Nations General Assembly. It was first celebrated in 1986 with the theme ‘Shelter is My Right’. Nairobi was the host city for the observance that year. 

Each year, World Habitat Day takes a new theme and a host city to bring attention to UN-Habitat’s mandate to promote sustainable development policies.

Previous themes include:

• Shelter for the Homeless - 1987, New York

• Shelter and Urbanisation - 1990, London

• Future Cities - 1997, Bonn

• Safer Cities - 1998, Dubai

• Women in Urban Governance - 2000, Jamaica

• Cities without Slums - 2001, Fukuoka

• Water and Sanitation for Cities - 2003, Rio de Janeiro

• Planning Our Urban Future - 2009, Washington, D.C.

• Better City, Better Life - 2010, Shanghai

• Cities and Climate Change - 2011, Aguascalientes, Mexico.

What is the theme for 2020?

The theme of World Habitat Day 2020 is ‘Housing For All: A Better Urban Future’, and the global observance is hosted by Surabaya in Indonesia.

Having an adequate home is now, more than ever, a matter of life and death. As COVID-19 continues to spread, people have been told to stay at home, but this simple measure is impossible for people who do not have adequate housing.

At the same time, COVID-19 has reminded us that home is much more than just a roof. To make us feel safe and enable us to continue living, working and learning, a home needs to be secure, to allow us to access basic services and infrastructure for hygiene measures and to have enough room for physical distancing. It should also be located in a place that enables residents to access public green and open spaces, employment opportunities, health-care services, schools, childcare centres and other social facilities.

An estimated 1.8 billion people were already living in slums and informal settlements, inadequate housing or in homelessness in our cities worldwide before the pandemic began. Some three billion people lack basic hand-washing facilities. This means millions of people worldwide are more likely to experience poor health due to the absence of basic services and exposure to multiple socio-economic and environmental hazards.

COVID-19 has spread in areas where people lack adequate housing, and are faced with inequalities and poverty. Residents in these areas are also often not recognised by the authorities or protected and face the risk of being evicted and relocated, particularly in times of crisis. 

According to the International Labour Organisation, 55 per cent of the world’s population – about 4 billion people – do not benefit from any form of social protection.

Housing is a human right and a catalyst for all other fundamental rights.

Action is needed now to provide low-income families and vulnerable populations with affordable housing with security of tenure and easy access to water, sanitation, transport and other basic services.

To meet global demand, more than 96,000 housing units will need to be completed every day and they must be part of the green transition.

Habitat Scroll of Honour

The Habitat Scroll of Honour award was launched by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme in 1989. It is currently the most prestigious human settlements award in the world. 

Its aim is to acknowledge initiatives which have made outstanding contributions in various fields such as shelter provision, highlighting the plight of the homeless, leadership in post conflict reconstruction, and developing and improving the human settlements and the quality of urban life.

Individuals, organisations, bilateral and multilateral aid agencies dealing with sustainable projects which have had great impact in society, and any Habitat Agenda partner who has improved the lives of people can be nominated for the UN-Habitat Scroll of Honour.

The award, a plaque engraved with the name of the winner and their achievement is presented to the winners during the Global Observance of World Habitat Day.

Major housing schemes in India

The 2030 development agenda of the United Nations has emphasised the role of sustainable cities by incorporating Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) — Sustainable Cities and Communities — for making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

In a country of India’s size, diversity and population, it is a staggering challenge to implement this ambitious urban agenda.

At the current rate of growth, urban population in India is estimated to reach a staggering 575 million by 2030. According to Census 2011, as many as 53 cities in India had a million plus population.

Flagship missions such as Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban, Smart Cities Mission, AMRUT Mission were launched before the SDGs were adopted by the Member States. 

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana is an initiative by the government in which affordable housing will be provided to the poor with a target of building 20 million affordable houses by March 31, 2022. It was launched on June 25, 2015.

The mission addresses urban housing shortage among the Economically Weaker Section (EWS), Low Income Group (LIG) and Middle Income Group (MIG) categories including the slum dwellers by ensuring a pucca house to all eligible urban households by the year 2022.

It has two components: Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) for the urban poor and Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana (Gramin) for the rural poor.

AMRUT Mission

The Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) was launched on June 25, 2015 in 500 cities. 

AMRUT Mission is a centrally sponsored scheme with a total outlay of Rs 1 lakh crore including a central assistance of Rs 50,000 crore spread over five years. The balance share of Rs. 50,000 crore has to come from states and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs).

Providing basic services (water supply, sewerage, urban transport) to households and building amenities in cities which will improve the quality of life for all, especially the poor and the disadvantaged is a national priority. 

All ULBs with a population of one lakh or more as per Census 2011, all other capital cities of states/UTs, all HRIDAY (Heritage Cities Development and Augmentation Yojana) cities, identified cities on the stem of the main rivers, from hill states, islands and tourist destinations were included as Mission cities.

Approximately 60 per cent of the urban population in the country is covered under AMRUT.

Objectives of AMRUT are:

* Ensure that every household has access to a tap with the assured supply of water and a sewerage connection.

* Increase the amenity value of cities by developing greenery and well maintained open spaces (parks).

* Reduce pollution by switching to public transport or constructing facilities for non-motorised transport (walking and cycling). 

National Urban Livelihoods Mission

The government is implementing a centrally sponsored scheme — Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihood Mission (DAY-NULM) — for reducing the poverty and vulnerability of urban poor households since September, 2013. The Mission covers all the statutory towns, to be decided by the State as per local need and capability. 

One of its components include Shelter for Urban Homeless (SUH), which supports provision for 24x7 permanent shelters for the urban homeless equipped with essential services.

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