ABSTRACT

Projected housing requirements by HABITAT, the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements, assume roughly a 30-percent reduction in people per household over the next 50 years. The projected growth in housing needs becomes all the more daunting given that rapid population growth combined with rapid urban growth has already left a large share of the world's population without adequate housing. Fierce competition in swelling urban areas for desirable land can eliminate all hope of low-income households acquiring a plot for housing. Housing area per person continues to increase in certain nations and among the more affluent segments of other nations, placing additional stress on prime space and building materials. It provides a connection to a supply of fresh water and sanitation facilities. The ultimate manifestation of population growth outstripping the supply of housing is homelessness. Homelessness in industrial nations undergoing little population growth highlights the added role of housing policy in ensuring universal shelter.