UN assessment puts affordable housing at the center of urban inequality

A United Nations assessment released in July says the world remains off track to make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. Its central warning is that affordable, secure housing is not only a construction challenge: it shapes access to services, opportunity and protection from risk.

The current U.N. Statistics Division Goal 11 assessment estimates that about 1.16 billion urban residents—24.8% of the world’s urban population—lived in slums or informal settlements in 2024. Without accelerated investment and policy action, the global slum population could exceed 1.2 billion by 2030.

Why the total can rise even when the share falls

The percentage of urban residents living in inadequate conditions has declined in some regions since 2015. But the absolute number can still increase when urban populations grow faster than housing, infrastructure and basic services improve.

The United Nations identifies linked pressures including housing costs that exceed household incomes, insecure land tenure, inadequate water and sanitation, overcrowding and limited planning capacity. Together, those conditions can push lower-income households farther from jobs, schools, health care and reliable transportation.

The extended SDG report included an earlier estimate of 1.13 billion people based on information submitted by April 30, 2026. The current Goal 11 indicator page and the finalized 2026 assessment use 1.16 billion. The difference reflects an updated data version and timing, not two figures that should be added together.

Housing affects more than where people live

For the United Nations, housing is an urban-systems issue. A home without safe water, sanitation, energy, transport or legal security does not provide the same protection or opportunity as a home connected to those systems.

That connection also extends to climate and disaster resilience. Residents of informal settlements may face greater exposure to floods, heat, landslides and other hazards while having fewer resources to recover. The 2026 assessment therefore frames housing policy as part of public health, education, economic mobility, environmental protection and disaster-risk reduction.

UN-Habitat’s 2026 SDG 11 Global Report places housing at the center of its review of transport, urban planning, environmental quality, public space, disaster risk and local implementation. It says progress is visible in some areas, but housing inadequacy, affordability pressures, pressure on public space, air pollution and disaster impacts continue to hold back overall progress.

Transport access improved, but quality remains uneven

One indicator moved in the right direction. The share of urban residents with convenient access to public transport rose from 53.2% in 2020 to 61.5% in 2025 in the latest Goal 11 summary, based on data from 412 cities across 127 countries.

That improvement does not mean service is equally safe, reliable, affordable or accessible for everyone. The United Nations says buses make up 78% of public-transit options in the reporting data, while higher-capacity systems such as rail and metro account for 22%. It also identifies persistent gaps in safety, reliability, investment and regional coverage, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and other fast-growing regions.

For residents, the practical question is whether a new home is connected to dependable transportation—or whether lower-cost housing pushes households to the urban edge, where longer commutes can weaken access to work, education and health care.

Public space is another measure of inclusion

Data from 414 cities in 126 countries show that streets and public open spaces accounted for about 17% of urban land in the 2020–2025 period. That is far below the UN-Habitat recommended range of roughly 30% to 45%.

Public space is not merely an amenity. Parks, streets and other shared areas can support cooling, safer movement, social connection, recreation and emergency response. When those spaces are scarce or difficult to reach, the effects are likely to fall hardest on people who have the least private space and fewest alternatives.

What integrated city policy would require

The assessment is not a new treaty, binding global program or funding decision. It is a progress review and policy framework. Its proposed direction is to plan housing, land use, transport, public space, data systems and community participation together.

That means expanding affordable housing while improving conditions in existing informal settlements, strengthening tenure security, investing in water and sanitation, improving transportation and using more detailed neighborhood-level data. It also means involving residents—including women, children, people with disabilities and other groups often missed by city statistics—in planning decisions.

The test for urban growth is straightforward: does it bring services and opportunity closer to people, or does it push lower-income households farther away? The 2026 assessment says progress is possible, but current gains are not keeping pace with the scale of urban growth.

Sources

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