2015•04•24     Nairobi

The 3rd UN Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (HABITAT III) will take place in October 2016 in Quito, Ecuador and set the global development agenda for cities for the coming decades.  It arrives at a critical time, as urban development continues apace, with consequences for the health of people and planetary systems. More people than ever before, indeed, a majority of human beings, now live in urban areas.

The second major planning session for HABITAT III called PrepCom2 took place in Nairobi, Kenya on April 14-16. UNU-IIGH Research Fellow Dr José Siri spoke at PrepCom2 on a greater role for science and an integral understanding of urban health in developing the New Urban Agenda.

Dr Siri pointed to the critical nexus between health and sustainable urban development.  He continued that human health should be understood as both an input to sustainable urban development, and a primary outcome of that development.  There is scope for health to be considered in a more comprehensive, integrated way in planning for HABITAT III.