ABSTRACT
The Habitat I and II conferences provide clear pointers to changing interpretations and policy responses toward housing. The first Habitat conference took place in Vancouver in 1976, and proved to be a watershed in influencing housing policy throughout the world. From the 1960s onwards accelerating urban population growth, closely linked to increasing rural-urban migration, led to the unprecedented growth of shantytowns and squatter settlements (see squatters) around many of the larger cities in the developing world. At this time, forced evictions and demolitions of informal settlements were commonplace, largely justified by the illegal nature of the settlements, and fears of social unrest and crime. However, during the 1970s there was increasing evidence of the innovative approaches developed by the poor to improve their own living environments, and a parallel recognition of the inability of both market-led solutions and public sector building programs to provide housing for the urban poor (see urban development). The Habitat I conference in 1976 was instrumental in bringing these ideas to world attention, and led to the formation of the United Nations Center for Human Settlements (UNCHS (Habitat)) two years later.
