Experts Group Meeting Report on Metropolitan Planning and Finance for Adequate Housing Published

Housing stands out as one of the most urgent and multidimensional challenges facing today’s cities. Rising housing costs, insecure living conditions, fragmented governance structures, inequalities in access to infrastructure and services, and demographic and climate-related pressures on metropolitan regions have made access to safe, accessible, affordable, and well-located housing an increasingly critical agenda.

In this context, the report underlines that the housing issue cannot be addressed merely through housing production. It emphasizes that access to adequate housing should be considered together with land use, transportation, infrastructure, basic services, climate resilience, social inclusion, and financing mechanisms.

A Common Ground for Metropolitan-Level Dialogue

The report serves as a multi-stakeholder knowledge-sharing and policy reference document, shaped by the contributions of metropolitan governments, local authorities, academics, civil society actors, and international experts. The discussions held during the Experts Group Meeting focused on key themes such as multi-level governance, metropolitan housing planning, and financing models for affordable and large-scale housing solutions.

The report also addresses the seven key dimensions of adequate housing: security of tenure, availability of services, affordability, habitability, accessibility, location, and cultural adequacy.

Experiences from Different Countries

The report includes examples and experiences from Istanbul, Bogotá–Cundinamarca, Barcelona, Belo Horizonte, Malaysia, and Albania. These cases demonstrate that the housing crisis creates similar pressures across different geographies, while also showing that solutions can be strengthened through cooperation across local, regional, and metropolitan scales.

In this respect, the report supports an approach that frames housing as both a human right and a public good, while highlighting the need to design planning, governance, and financing mechanisms in a more integrated manner.

A Reference Document for Policymakers

The published report offers a comprehensive reference for policymakers, local and metropolitan governments, urban planners, researchers, civil society organizations, and all stakeholders working on adequate, affordable, inclusive, and climate-resilient housing.

By bringing together key findings and recommendations, the report contributes to strengthening metropolitan housing systems, advancing rights-based planning approaches, and developing innovative financing mechanisms.