From Habitat II to Pachamama: a growing agenda and diminishing expectations for Habitat III

Preparations for the upcoming United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) in Quito in October 2016 have included a wide range of meetings and work on a negotiated outcome document entitled “The New Urban Agenda”. This is intended to present a global consensus on the significance and challenges of human settlements, as well as a Global Plan of Action. What can reasonably be expected from these activities? Will a meaningful and substantively appropriate “new urban agenda” emerge from the discussions? If so, what is the likelihood that it can actually be implemented? Or is all this activity and expense a waste of time and human energy? This article examines the results of the Habitat I and Habitat II conferences, the weakness of the associated monitoring and evaluation, and the changing dynamics of human settlements since 1996. It provides a forward-looking assessment of both the likely results of Habitat III and the issues to be faced subsequently.