Human Settlements - The Places Where People Live and Work

One of the main purposes of the UN Conference-Exposition on Human Settlements to be held in Vancouver, Canada, in June 1976, was to bring to the world's attention the nature and relative importance of the problems of human settlements against a background of widespread concern for the whole of our earthly environment – natural and man-made. Two of the most critical problems of society today are the shortage of adequate housing and deterioration of the conditions under which people live and work. Many cities are unable to provide adequate housing, food, sanitation, work and other essential services for all the people. Rural settlements are being abandoned and neglected. Urbanization is not an evil in itself. The process can be guided and converted into a positive factor in development.

Sun light falls into a mosque through an open window, Cairo.

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