Story by Tendai Munengwa
NAIROBI, KENYA – THE government is set to conduct a comprehensive assessment of illegal settlements across the country, with a view to regularising some of them in line with national housing strategies and international urban development goals.
This development emerged during the resumed second session of the United Nations Habitat Assembly, currently underway in Nairobi, Kenya.
The event has placed significant focus on the proliferation of informal settlements, with National Housing and Social Amenities Minister Honourable Zhemu Soda leading Zimbabwe’s delegation.
Delivering her opening remarks, UN-Habitat Executive Director Ms Anaclaudia Rossbach called on all member states to urgently address the global housing crisis and the growing number of informal settlements.
“2.8 billion people globally are inadequately housed, with over 1.1 billion living in informal settlements or slums, and more than 300 million experiencing homelessness. The Strategic Plan positions, housing, land and basic services,” she said.
In his presentation at the UN high-level dialogue, Honourable Soda outlined the densification strategy as the winning housing formula in urban housing development.
“One of our strategies is, while we have some illegal settlements in Zimbabwe, we are taking a holistic approach to assessing them for regularisation, but over and above, we are implementing the densification model which we view as our urban development winning formula.”
The session will among other issues consider the Strategic Plan 2026–2029 for adoption, prioritising advancing sustainable urban development over the next four years.
