What are some of the best practices globally for providing housing to the urban poor?
Tibaijuka: Since 1996, UN-HABITAT has been documenting and disseminating best practices in improving the living environment. To date, over 1,600 peer-reviewed practices from 140 countries are compiled on the Best Practices Database. Out of these, 427 address housing provision and are drawn from all over the world. Briefly, many best practices in Africa focus on providing affordable housing to disadvantaged groups, targeting proliferating informal settlements. In African cities, provision of secure land tenure in informal settlements is a prerequisite to increasing permanent housing. There is a shift in shelter policies by concerned governments, with more attention given to infrastructure provision, secure land tenure and support to housing agencies, public and private. Community-based organizations are in the forefront in shelter provision, mobilizing community members to participate in improving or constructing their own houses. In Asia, a number of innovative solutions have been deve
