Medical Humanities Commons^™

Habitat, The New United Nations Initiative In Human Settlements, Norman Miller, James F. Hornig

Dartmouth Scholarship

Habitat, the synonym for the United Nations Center for Human Settlements, is a new UN agency with a staggering mandate. Its charge is to assist developing nations in settlement policy and planning, in slum upgrading, urban renewal, and in the development of shelter materials. The upgrading of infrastructural services, such as those involving finance, loans, building codes, and regulatory laws, are a part of the mandate, as are such basic elements as clean water, electricity, and sewage removal. Still further, the agency, which is headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, is charged with helping generate rational land-use policies, gaining public participation, and …