Urbanization can concentrate jobs, services, and investments, but it can also concentrate unaffordable housing, insecure employment, and unequal exposure to environmental threats, according to a United Nations report issued on September 18, 2026. Released by the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, the document argues that the defining factor is not urbanization itself, but how cities are planned, governed, and financed.
Evaluating Structural Drivers and Spatial Inequality
Elena Díaz Galán’s report, titled Cities and Poverty and issued in July 2026, examines social exclusion and the structural drivers of poverty in urban centers. According to the document, land use, housing infrastructure, public services, and civic participation can either exacerbate or mitigate poverty depending on municipal implementation.
The findings illustrate how poverty and inequality manifest in distinct spatial patterns. Low-income individuals are frequently pushed into outlying and environmentally hazardous areas, leaving them vulnerable and isolated from public services, employment, schools, and healthcare facilities.
For example, informal settlements in Dandora and Korogocho—located near Nairobi’s main landfill—are exposed to severe environmental hazards, including polluted air and contaminated groundwater, as documented in the report.
The Rising Global Housing Crisis
The UN Special Rapporteur’s findings align closely with UN-Habitat’s ongoing priorities. In an exclusive interview with Inter Press Service, Anacláudia Rossbach, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN-Habitat, emphasized that the central challenge lies in addressing the deprivations and climate risks accompanying urban growth.
“The central challenge lies not in urbanization itself, but in addressing the inequalities, deprivations and climate risks that accompany it, which affect people differently based on factors such as gender, age, or socio-economic status,” Rossbach told Inter Press Service.
This dynamic is underscored by UN-Habitat’s World Cities Report 2026: The Global Housing Crisis – Pathways to Action. The publication notes that at least 3.4 billion people worldwide lack access to adequate housing, while 1.1 billion people live in slums or informal settlements.
Despite inadequate housing, infrastructure deficits, and insecure tenure, Rossbach noted that informal settlements hold significant potential for sustainable development. They provide housing, livelihoods, social networks, and economic opportunities for millions of urban residents.
The Unequal Cost of Urban Life
Cycles of poverty frequently reinforce themselves within informal settlements due to severe pricing disparities for basic utilities. In the peri-urban areas of Woldia, Ethiopia, the absence of formal water, sanitation, and electricity networks forces residents to pay up to 1,645 percent more for water than households connected to private municipal pipes, according to data cited in the Special Rapporteur’s report.
This dynamic illustrates how individuals with the fewest resources are frequently compelled to pay higher prices for lower-quality essential goods and services.
To counter these disparities, UN-Habitat’s Strategic Plan for 2026–2029 prioritizes housing, land, and basic services as the foundation for sustainable development, focusing on preventing the deepening of vulnerabilities for women and marginalized groups facing overlapping forms of exclusion.
