Housing is a Human Right

Following this year’s Habitat III, it is worth remembering that “Adequate shelter for all” was one of the two key issues of the previous Habitat conference in Istanbul. Ten years later we are looking at an even deeper housing crisis that does not only embrace homelessness and growing population of urban slums, but also growing problems related to the escalating commodification of housing, as well as forced displacement and migration. Housing is not a matter of solidarity, helping those in need on a cold winter day, it is a human right. This iconic artwork of Martha Rosler displayed at Times Square in New York in 1989 should remind us that this statement is not a matter of wishful thinking, it is a fact.