World Habitat Day

by Amy Judd | October 6, 2008 at 10:21 am

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World Habitat Day today celebrates the right of all people to have a home and shelter.

It is predicted by the end of this year that over half of the world's population will live in urban areas, due to what most experts are saying is climate change and is forcing people to move into cities.

Anna Tibaijuka serves as executive director of UN-HABITAT, the agency which promotes socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities and adequate shelter for all. "Cities consume upwards of 75 percent of all energy and contribute to an equally substantial amount of greenhouse gas emissions. Cities must therefore be an integral part of any mitigation efforts," she said on World Habitat Day, which is observed on the first Monday in October each year.

The theme of this year's World Habitat Day is "harmonious cities," and the global observance this year is being led from the Angolan capital, Luanda.The celebrations in Angola are intended to show the world how, after nearly three decades years of conflict, the country is progressing in the establishment of harmonious cities through improvements in urban infrastructure and services, and a new urban development strategy.

"We have both a moral and ethical responsibility to make our cities more harmonious by making them more inclusive. It is a societal imperative that we fight urban poverty and squalor if we are to secure urban safety and security," said Tibaijuka.

Attending the the event, taking place for the first time on the African continent, were African housing ministers, particularly those from the Southern Africa Development Community. The celebration featured cultural activities, award ceremonies, and speeches by government officials.

This day comes before the World Urban Forum from November 3 to 6.
Zimbabwe is focusing on the day by looking at new government policies that have been aimed at providing housing to people placed on housing waiting lists.
Today the United Nations also presented an award to China for having some of the best solutions to address the global financial crisis and the lack of affordable housing.

It is not by coincidence that this year for the first time, the highest award conferred by the United Nations system in this field-- the Habitat Scroll of Honour Special Citation -- goes not to an outstanding individual, but to a Chinese city, Nanjing.

According to a news release from the UN-HABITAT, at the next level, the cities of Shaoxing and Zhangjiagang were given the Habitat Scroll of Honour Award, along with the Rwandan capital, Kigali, the Tatarstan city of Bugulma, in the Russian Federation, and Ciudad Juarez a major Mexican city on the United States border.

"The Awards this year show us that we can learn from the great strides made by all of these Chinese cities, especially at this time of global financial crisis," said Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director of UN-HABITAT and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations.

The first Monday in October is dedicated to World Habitat Day.

The idea is to reflect on the state of our towns and cities and the basic right to adequate shelter for all. It is also intended to remind the world of its collective responsibility for the future of the human habitat.

The day draws a lot of attention to the need for housing for all, especially at this time in America when a recession is on everyone's' minds.

Communities all across America are trying to find a solution to the housing crisis.

One of our own members, master_jim2008, has experienced this first hand. I asked him to write a piece about what it is like to be homeless in 2008 in America.

Below is the piece that he wrote - I am posting it here so that all the material is together. I cannot however, take credit for it and it is a reflection of his opinion.

"Being homeless is a very demeaning feeling in today’s modern times. At first you feel like an utter failure. It takes some time to adjust to the knowledge that you’re not the only one going through this in these troubled times. It also takes some time to find resources to help you out. Once you find them though, it is for some, an easy road to recovery and for some it’s total desperation. To some, survival mode come easy, to others they really have to work at it and often times still don’t achieve it. It’s not hard to understand why some people end up as smelly bums sleeping in cardboard boxes and pushing stolen shopping carts full of their belongings. The nights are the roughest; you’re always looking out for the cops.

Depending on what town you’re in, the cops can be anything from brutal to quite compassionate. The medium compassionate ones will just leave you alone. The very compassionate will try to help you, and the brutal ones will roust you and throw you in jail for vagrancy since they see no grey areas in the law. Those are the ones who see things in black and white only and if you’re not white, you’re not right. No, I don’t mean racially, I’m not playing the race card by saying that, I am simply saying that white has always been the color of good and black the color of evil.

For those of you who know my story, I was homeless, and still technically am. I’m staying with friends in North Carolina but that may soon end. I may have a job in, I may not. I may have the job but flunk the schooling, which means I’ll be back to square one. My house in got foreclosed on, and 3 days after arriving in North Carolina my transmission went out and I lost my car to an unscrupulous towing company. So if this job thing in Texas doesn’t work out, I’m REALLY homeless and car-less.

Personal hygiene is a major obstacle when you’re homeless, even if you’re in your car, though the car thing IS easier, since you at least have some place to store your soap and stuff for when you find a place you can shower at.

Getting comfortable in your car is another problem, especially if you’re over 5’ tall and are sleeping in the back seat. You also plan your eating and bathroom habits around stores or gas stations being open. And during the summer, shade is your best friend. During winter, mildew is your worst enemy. It not only smells but can make one very sick.

Some people have it lucky; they make friends easily and find help easily. Others are loners and being homeless becomes quite the challenge.

So, in today’s rough times, which are only going to get rougher with the housing market tanking and the entire economy falling apart, what do I, a homeless person feel should be done to help the homeless?

When offering suggestions as to what to do, you have to keep in mind that with our present state of affairs in Washington any suggestions are simply pipe dreams, but here goes:

A team of experts in rehabilitation, not just drug and alcohol but in other areas like job rehab and financial rehab should go to some of the tent cities like in Reno Nevada and start interviewing everyone there. Those with drug or alcohol problems get sent to rehab. Those with job skills but perhaps their factory has closed and they need retraining should be sent to a school where they can learn a new “in demand” trade. They should be given shelter and expenses to help them meet their educational goals. They then should have a job lined up in the private sector. This is where business comes in to help. Once we divorce the word greed from the corporate vocabulary, we should see recruiters from various companies offering jobs to those who complete the schooling for their company.

Rather than congress bail out Wall Street, we should bail out Main Street. I can understand Bush’s point of view that if we bail out Wall Street, everyone’s money will be secure, so that this will help even Main Street since most of the investments and 401k’s are from Main Street folks. Sure, it’s back to the trickle down economics theory of the Reagan/Bush era, but I can’t really see it working under today’s socio-economic structure. Anyway, back to the topic at hand.

Once the tent cities are provided for and everyone is on their way to getting the help they need, the same teams need to swamp the homeless shelters and do the same thing they did in the tent cities. Then they need to contact all law enforcement agencies and get leads on where all the homeless are who are living in the bushes or have a tent somewhere that no one can find it. And more shelters need to be built that will attract the homeless who are in hiding to come and get help.

That would be bailing out Main Street, not Wall Street."