ABSTRACT
Providing people with shelter is a basic human need and yet the global housing crisis is set to intensify as wealth distribution narrows, climate disasters intensify, and cross-border migration extends, leaving demographic groups that were once secure now vulnerable. That being the case, should housing be a commodity used for speculation and does everyone need to own a house? Different governments take different approaches to social equity and yet something needs to radically change if UN Sustainable Development Goal 11 is to be met in ensuring “access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing”. New models are not only going to have to primarily address the affordability element in order to maintain social stability and urban cohesion, but also to understand that low-tech, localised, and sustainable models are essential, especially in newly urbanising, developing countries where the quality of housing provision and not just the quantity is of equal importance.
