Habitat has been providing various training to support governments towards achieving sustainable urban development. In 2012, UN-Habitat developed a new training methodology called Rapid Planning Studio (RPS) to help cities and local governments develop practical, feasible approaches to implementing urban planning interventions. This methodology has successfully been applied to support UN-Habitat’s capacity development activities in Kenya, Rwanda, Mozambique, and the Philippines.

The 2-day training for Kenya Municipal Programme (KMP) Cluster V counties was conducted based on this RPS methodology, to provide decision makers and planners in the counties with enhanced capacity to actively engage with their respective process of formulating an Integrated Strategic Urban Development Plan (ISUDP).

The Housing Rights Index (HRI) is a decision-support tool developed specifically for the use of housing practitioners and policy makers who are involved in the Housing Practitioners Labs and tailor-made training developed and conducted by UN-Habitat. It is based on the right to adequate housing1 as enshrined in international human rights instruments2 and included in the Habitat Agenda (1996)3 and the New Urban Agenda (2016)4. It is understood as the right of every individual and community to gain and sustain a safe and secure home in which to live in peace and dignity.

The tool has both pedagogic and policy development roles. On the one hand, the deployment of the index will enhance the user’s understanding of the practical meaning of adequate housing rights and enable a better understanding of the policy and practical implications of the seven elements of adequacy that defines the right to adequate housing. On the other hand, the tool supports the user’s assessment of the housing sector with a specific look at the extent to which adequate housing rights are recognized, respected, realized and protected in his/her city.

The Housing Barometer is a tool to support a rapid analysis of the housing sector. It provides a quick overview of the housing sector that feeds directly into the housing policy formulation process. The Housing Barometer relies on qualitative assessments rather than data and empirical evidences. It expresses the perceptions of policy makers, decision makers and housing practitioners about the performance of the various subsectors of the housing sector. The result of housing sector analysis through the Housing Barometer gives an immediate visualization of the performance of the housing sector by means of the scoring given to each dimension and sub-sector of the Housing Sector in the context that it is being utilized.

The Housing Barometer is a practical tool that draws on the housing sector analysis methodology as outlined in the Practical Guide for Conducting Housing Profiles.

The Housing Barometer enables an easy diagrammatic visualization of the weaknesses and strengths of the housing sector in a given city/country, and as a result provides a basis for further policy discussions. It is illustrated as a housing sector diamond (the geometric figure) that suggests areas for further analysis and possible policy response. The Housing Barometer is therefore a problem-solving tool helping in the identification of the problem areas or policy shortcomings that need attention.

The Housing Barometer. A tool to support a rapid analysis of the housing sector - English

The Housing Barometer. A tool to support a rapid analysis of the housing sector - Spanish

While 220 million people have been lifted out of slum conditions over the past 10 years, the number of people living in slum conditions is likely to grow by six million every year, to reach a total of 889 million by 2020. It is necessary to equip cities and their practitioners with the tools and capacities to anticipate and control urban growth and city officials will require knowledge, skills and methodologies that will allow them not only to upgrade existing slums but also prevent the appearance of new ones.  

This Guide advocates for a citywide approach to slum upgrading, which represents a fundamental shift from piecemeal project interventions to a citywide programme approach. This Practical Guide is part of a trilogy on citywide slum upgrading that includes Streets as Tools for Urban Transformation in Slums: A Street-led Approach to Citywide Slum Upgrading and A Training Module for Designing and Implementing Citywide Slum Upgrading. With the other two partner publications, the Practical Guide provides an accessible tool for practitioners, leading them through UN-Habitat steps towards a successful citywide slum-upgrading program.

Women, men, girls and boys are differentially affected by the conditions of urbanization. For instance, women are ???invariably disadvantaged compared to men in cities in terms of equal access to employment and shelter, health and education, transport, asset ownership, experiences of urban violence and ability to exercise their rights. These disadvantages are especially marked for poor urban women???1 These gendered dimensions of cities require continual examination if inequalities are to be understood and addressed for equitable and sustainable development. The Research unit can potentially help enhance understanding of this human-urban environment interface from gender perspectives.

Developing capacity in the land sector is central to the goals, objectives and activities of the Global Land Tool Network (GLTN), and we have embraced the idea of finding better ways to do it. We are actively engaged in integrating capacity development into everything we do. To guide us, we have formulated a comprehensive capacity development strategy, which is presented in this booklet.

The GLTN Capacity Development Strategy gives guidance on GLTN policy, operations and purpose. It provides the principles, strategic framework and operational guidelines needed to significantly gear up GLTN's work at the global, regional and, in particular, country level. Ultimately, the strategy will enable the development of the capacity of partners and institutions, necessary to test and implement pro-poor and gender responsive land tools for the achievement of land and property rights for all.