1.1 billion people live in slums. Can they be housed in dignity?

Key points

• How can cities be made safer and more resilient, and how can housing be made more affordable?
• These are the questions under discussion at the thirteenth session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13), which opened on Sunday.
• Over the past decade, many countries have made visible progress: around 160 countries have already adopted or are developing national urban policies, while more than two-thirds of countries have introduced housing affordability programmes.
• However, according to the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), these efforts remain insufficient.
• More than 1.1 billion people live in slums or informal settlements worldwide, and more than 120 million people over the last decade were either born into or moved into slums and informal settlements.