How to Solve the World’s Housing Crisis Four choices will define whether cities’ housing policies offer solutions or exacerbate problems. There’s a growing housing crisis that’s impossible to ignore. Consider the stats: Nearly 3 billion people lack access to housing that is both safe and connected to basic services like energy, water and sanitation. Around 40% of the world’s population lives in houses located far away from jobs and opportunities. And 300 million people are currently experiencing homelessness. This translates into a need to build 96,000 affordable homes worldwide every day from now until 2030. It’s a problem that affects poor and rich countries alike. In Asia and Africa, where most urban growth is happening, many residents and migrants find informal settlements, often referred to as slums, to be the only affordable and available option. Informal settlements are expanding faster than infrastructure can keep up in many rapidly growing cities. In wealthier countries, housing costs are rising faster than incomes, pushing people to move further away from jobs and opportunities. Meanwhile, threats are growing. More frequent flooding, extreme heat and other climate shocks are exposing just how vulnerable many urban communities are, especially informal settlements and households already struggling to access basic services. The global housing crisis is therefore not just about supply. It’s about rising costs, deepening inequality and increasing exposure to risk. Expanding and upgrading housing is one of the most powerful levers cities have to respond to these challenges. But there’s a right way and a wrong way to do it. Done effectively, housing can build community, address inequities, and expand access to essential services, jobs and opportunities. Done ineffectively, housing will exacerbate challenges facing people, nature and the climate. Nearly three-quarters of the urban infrastructure that will exist by 2050 has yet to be built. This