World Cities Report 2026 The Global Housing Crisis: Pathways to Action

The world is facing an unprecedented housing crisis. Rising unaffordability, the expansion of informal settlements, climate-related risks, displacement and declining neighbourhood liveability are increasingly converging across regions, making access to adequate housing more difficult for billions of people. The World Cities Report 2026 provides a comprehensive assessment of these challenges, drawing on new global data and analysis to illuminate the structural forces shaping housing outcomes worldwide. At present, governments and devel­opers alike are failing to meet the scale and severity of these challenges. Housing prices have risen sharply in recent years, with median households now having to spend on average around 11 times their annual income to purchase a typical home - a figure that is even higher in some regions. The situa­tion is no better for the growing proportion of tenant households, with 44 per cent worldwide spending more than 30 per cent of their income on rent. These issues are compounded by the limited reach of conventional housing finance, which continues to exclude most low-income and informally employed households. Housing is far more than a roof and four walls: it plays a critical role in determining health, economic opportunity and well-being, making it central to the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals. The report is both a call to action and a guide for transformation. It argues that resolving the global housing crisis requires sustained political commitment, coordinated governance, expanded financing tools and meaningful community engagement. Recognizing housing as both a human right and essential social and economic infrastruc­ture is key to advancing more inclusive, resilient and sustainable urban futures.