FIABCI Participates in the UN-Habitat Global Stakeholders Forum

Apr 04, 2022 Latest News

FIABCI was invited by the UN-Habitat Stakeholder Advisory Group to share a case study on the organization’s activities over the last several years to implement the New Urban Agenda. The virtual consultations on 4 April provided feedback on the challenges, opportunities, partnerships and good practices to be reported to the High-Level Meeting of the UN General Assembly on 28 April in New York to review progress on the implementation of the New Urban Agenda.

Of the more than 100 case study submissions, FIABCI’s was one of 25 selected to be presented at the Forum. The case study featured an overview of housing solutions contained in the five volumes of The City We Need is Affordable books FIABCI has published since the New Urban Agenda was adopted in Quito, Ecuador in 2016. Seventy projects from 30 countries are included in the books and contain practical and replicable affordable housing solutions in four areas:

• Land use including long-term land leasing, transferrable development rights, Community Land Trusts, and an Emergency Declaration to transfer state land for use in providing housing for the homeless

• Policy and planning advice for Master Plan Mixed-Use Communities, Transit-Oriented Development, Public-Private Partnerships for People, starter homes, workforce housing, 60% affordable/40% market mix, inclusion for the disabled, live-work micro-housing, co-living, flex leasing, and ageing in place

• Innovative construction techniques such as off-site modular construction, homes made from shipping containers, reclaimed construction materials, modular reusable concrete forms, adaptive re-use, self-build apps, and renovation and historic preservation

• Financing tools including tax credits, micro-mortgages, employee service guarantee fund, Special Purpose REITs, rent-to-own, government subsidy, first-time buyers fund, corporate investment and social responsibility

FIABCI will continue our work as a Global Partner of the UN-Habitat World Urban Campaign with participation in the World Urban Forum 11 in Katowice, Poland 26-30 June and by joining the City & County of Honolulu and the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development in hosting the Global Observance of World Habitat Day in Honolulu on 3 October.