Anaclaudia Rossbach: Why Housing Is the Defining Urban Challenge

Anaclaudia Rossbach, Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) at the Under-Secretary-General level and the very first guest on The Century of Cities, returns to explore why housing has become one of the defining tests of urban leadership in the 21st century. Drawing on insights from World Urban Forum 13 in Baku and the newly launched World Cities Report 2026, she reflects on a world where rapid urbanization is colliding with rising housing costs, growing informality, displacement, and homelessness—challenges affecting cities across every region of the world. At the heart of the conversation is a simple but powerful idea: housing is not just a housing issue. It shapes economic opportunity, climate resilience, public health, and social stability. With two billion more people expected to live in cities by 2050, Anaclaudia explores why housing must move from the margins of policy discussions to the centre of political action. The challenge is immense, but so is the opportunity to build safer, more resilient, and more inclusive cities for the decades ahead. As the global community prepares for the upcoming SDG 11 Review and the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on the New Urban Agenda, conversations that began at World Urban Forum 13 will continue there. This episode is part of that broader dialogue on the future of cities.