Rebuilding beyond bricks: World Urban Forum focuses on housing, community support in war-torn cities

The penultimate day of the Forum’s twelfth biennial session, or WUF12, examined the situation in the Gaza Strip, where the urban fabric and urban life in the enclave are in ruins following a year of intense bombardment and the war is now affecting the West Bank, Lebanon, and Syria.

Participants grappled with all aspects of this challenge, particularly the need for local-level action. Seeking solutions that looked beyond physical damage caused by crises and conflicts, they focused on the loss of homes, places that “are filled with memories and community connections.”

Anacláudia Rossbach, Executive Director of UN-Habitat, the UN agency dealing with sustainable urban development which convenes the Forum, told the gathering that “when we talk about building and rebuilding, we are not talking about housing only; we are talking about social support and working with communities to see a possible future.”

Housing ‘close to home’

Participants echoed that message throughout the discussion and stressed the crucial role of joint rebuilding and reconstruction efforts.

Sami Hijjawi, Minister of Local Government, State of Palestine, told UN News that “reconstruction can only be achieved through joint efforts, in an organized and structured manner. That way we can benefit from previous experiences and not repeat any mistakes that occurred during prior periods.”

He went on to note that when addressing the issue of sheltering people and rebuilding infrastructure, it is critical that they be housed as close to their hometowns as possible.

Despite the “difficult circumstances” in Gaza, development and urbanization efforts are continuing, said Mr. Hijjawi, explain that “we are still working, planning, programming, and providing services to our people within the available budgets.”

‘Holistic approach’ in Somalia

The participants shared many ideas and experiences about responses to other urban crises, including in Somalia.

Zahra Abdi Mohamed, Director of Poverty Reduction and Durable Solutions at Somalia’s Ministry of Planning, shared and example with UN News: “The Semantic Project integrates housing, land, and property issues with access to livelihoods and social services. And we are trying to ensure that when IDPs are being given support, it is holistic and integrated.”

She urged moving from a solely humanitarian approach to a development approach and stressed the importance of integrated development services for internally displaced persons (IDPs), refugees, and returnees.

Ms. Mohamed added that in order to get people to return, rural regions must be developed.

‘A crisis of destruction’

The key is stopping destruction of homes before it occurs, said to Jenia Gubkina, a Ukrainian architect who spoke at a related dialogue on the Loss of home.

She told UN News: “We have a massive crisis, not only of reconstructions and construction of new types of architecture, but first of all, of destruction.”

If it is not made clear that homes must not be destroyed, Ms. Gubkina warned that “we will construct, aggressors will come and deconstruct, making this a challenging and frustrating situation for the whole world.”

Fixing urban crisis response

There are 117 million displaced persons in the world, and cities are increasingly serving as both refuges for displaced populations and focal points of global crises. As a result, urban crisis response needs to be rethought immediately.

In that context, Sameh Wahba, World Bank Regional Director for Sustainable Development, Europe and Central Asia, told UN News that displacement is “an urban phenomenon” because the majority of people displaced by natural hazards and conflict seek refuge in cities.

The solution, he said, is to this issue is to provide integrated solutions for “refugees, the internally displaced, the forcibly displaced, and their host communities.

“The second thing is to consider solutions that are people-based…and place-based. When you think about people-based solutions – whether cash transfers or housing vouchers to enable housing access – it’s about helping them access jobs,” Mr. Whaba added.

What’s ahead on the closing day of WUF12

WUF12 has been running in Cairo since Monday, 8 November. The biennial Forum, considered the world’s foremost gathering examining rapid urbanisation and its impact on communities, cities, economies, climate change and policies, will wrap up on Friday.

The main highlight tomorrow will be the launch of the Cairo Call to Action, one of the three outcome documents capturing the key messages that will have emerged from WUF12.

In addition, Forum participants will have the opportunity to attend roundtables on civil society and academia, as well as other partner-led events.

The Closing Ceremony will feature remarks from high-level officials, including representatives from UN-Habitat and the Egyptian Government, thought leaders, and creative performances.

The event will conclude with the official handover to Baku, Azerbaijan, the hosts of WUF13, marking the next steps in the global journey toward sustainable urbanization.