Cities and towns globally are facing an unprecedented challenging period. COVID-19 is continuing to cause human tragedy, economic and social instability, and a continuing health emergency. COVID-19 is a converging crisis with climate change, environmental degradation, loss of biodiversity and is further exposing humanity’s vulnerabilities to natural and human-made disasters. New normal imperatives call for a better integration of social, environmental and urban development issues. This warrants an urgent need for an in-depth reflection on the relationship between humans, cities, nature and planet Earth. 

The world will change after COVID-19. It is predicted that the way we interact, work, rest and care for others will drastically change (Fuentes et al 2020). Long-standing issues such as poverty, inequality and marginalization have been exacerbated and have come into focus because of the pandemic. The strategies to overcome the crisis will have to evolve and change. Consumption patterns, socialization mechanisms, the notion of distance and proximity, civil society, governance, and economic systems will need to be better integrated, and most probably adapted to respond to a new reality and to tackle the growing divide between the rich and poor. 

“Perhaps no situation is more dire than in India, where a national lockdown with little notice ordered 1.3 billion people to self-isolate for at least 40 days. With the current guidance — from washing hands frequently to staying put — it’s unclear how the country’s 460 million urban residents will cope.” ---- Jillian Du Jillian Du, Robin King and Radha Chanchani. Tackling Inequality in Cities is Essential for Fighting COVID-19, World Resources Institute Report 

Data on energy consumption has shown that the lockdown and movement restrictions imposed by governments due to Covid-19, resulted in a reduction of global carbon emissions by an average of 17% compared to the mean levels of 2019 (Le Quere et al 2020). However, despite sharp drops early in the pandemic, global emissions of carbon dioxide picked up by the end of 2020.The World had a glimpse of what carbon reduction looks like for humanity and nature, including the economic and social costs. One needs to use this crisis as an opportunity for an urban transformation to change the urban paradigm for the better. The pandemic gives us an opportunity to rethink the ruling ideas of development, including in urban and territorial planning, and the role that cities can play in the transformational process for sustainability. 

An important topic in this conversation is the role of housing as one of the main drivers for sustainable urban development. Inequality has long been built into, and driven by unjust housing systems in various countries, based on class, gender, disability, age and ethnicity. This has become more obvious during the pandemic. For example, the pandemic has exacerbated these inequalities as the simple task of washing hands could not be fulfilled by the homeless or those living in informality. The commodification of housing as an investment vehicle puts an emphasis on the speculative factors of a dwelling rather than the productive factors (i.e., as a place for work, shelter and a home). 

In many countries the right to speculate is often prioritized over the right to housing. The paramount example of this was the Global Financial Crisis of 2008, which showed the dangers of the increasing financialization of the housing market including mortgage and derivatives. Despite this warning, residential real estate prices are still considered a good barometer of the economic robustness of a nation. While the new normal has been beneficial to some sectors and urban areas, others have not been able to adopt the new normal. Limitations arose due to affordability and access to electronic equipment and internet services, which has further accentuated the urban divide and was exposed during the pandemic. 

Housing needs to become a central factor to structure cities and ensure they are better planned and organized from both a governmental and housing industry perspective. The housing sector needs to become an equalizer and an element of justice and growth; a factor that propels shared prosperity and environmental sustainability. House is a place that plays a big part in one’s life, where family members gather, play, socialize and now even work. It is a home. It is important to understand how the integral and multi-functional role that housing plays in societies. For example, the out migration of cities had its own impact on cities in terms of loss of service fees and reduced economic activity. With proper planning and design and with the necessary ecological and financial sustainability conditions that will operate within a profit‐driven, entrepreneurial planning environment, it is possible to achieve a creative balance among social, environmental and economic conditions. New innovative and creative funding models can underpin these transformative changes to enter in a new normality that brings hope to everyone. 

“In addition to adopting new safety practices, people have had to convert their apartments to do double duty”. “One trend that may be accelerated as a result of the pandemic is the desire for walkable communities,” ---- Donna Kimura. Affordable Housing Finance - 5 Ways COVID-19 Will Change Affordable Housing Design. 

Main Outcomes

1. Broad Acceptance for the proposition that Housing for All is key for urban economics, resilience and recovery. 
2. Encourage participants to implement sustainable policies, procedures and actions in their local communities. Participants will be encouraged to report back to UEF on their progress toward integrating the lessons and practical approach shared during UEF 2021. 
3. The forum will make recommendations to help key decision-makers and policymakers shape their recovery packages with housing at the center