Housing is a health issue. Where we live shapes how long, and how well, we live. Yet, according to UN-Habitat’s World cities report 2026, up to 3.4 billion people lack access to secure, safe and adequate housing, including more than 1 billion people living in informal settlements and slums. This global housing crisis affects health, well-being, equity and resilience.
Overcrowding, indoor heat and cold, injury hazards, and inaccessible homes all contribute to disease and injury. These risks fall disproportionately on people already experiencing disadvantage, reinforcing existing health inequalities. As cities grow, housing decisions will shape health and health equity for generations, making adequate housing a defining challenge of our time.
Housing extends beyond the physical structure of a dwelling to include the home environment and surrounding residential neighbourhood, which together provide shelter, safety, security and the foundations for health and well-being. WHO’s Housing and health guidelines provide evidence-based recommendations to reduce the health risks associated with inadequate living space, unsafe indoor temperatures, injury hazards and barriers to accessibility, among others. WHO’s Global guide for strategic action on urban health and its Initiative on Urban Governance for Health and Well-being helps cities build the participatory, multisectoral governance that good housing decision-making demands.
Healthy housing helps people cope with extreme heat and severe weather, improves energy efficiency and reduces emissions. It helps give children a healthy start in life and enables older people and people with disabilities to stay connected and independent. And as the recent WHO World report on social determinants of health equity shows, access to quality housing is key to ensuring health for all.
Cities are already stepping up. Through the Partnership for Healthy Cities, and the Global Network for Age-friendly Cities, WHO and partners supports cities to tackle the health risks of extreme heat, including housing-related vulnerabilities and energy insecurity among people most at risk. The recent WHO Healthy Cities Recognition Awards in the Western Pacific honoured initiatives that improved housing conditions and supported vulnerable groups for example by addressing urban flooding and greenhouse gas emissions.
These efforts must become the norm, not the exception. Housing policies and urban development decisions are health policies, and they must be made as such. That means health authorities at the table alongside housing, planning and finance ministries, nationally and locally.
On this World Cities Day, with the theme of “Regenerating the City: Adequate Housing for All”, WHO calls on every sector with a stake in housing, urban development and public health to work together so that everyone, everywhere, can live in a home that supports health and dignity.
A home should protect health, never threaten it. Healthy cities begin with healthy homes.