Within the next three decades, more than 60 percent of the world's citizens will live in urban settings, most of them in developing countries, ill equipped to handle the housing needs of so many people. Our urban centers in the United States have faced the problems of inadequate and unaffordable housing, and we have decades of experience in creating solutions—not Federal Government solutions, but solutions developed in partnership by local authorities, private enterprises, and community organizations. We are eager to share what we have learned, and we continue to reach beyond our borders for strong partnerships with our global neighbors. (From a speech delivered by Mel Martinez, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, at the United Nations General Assembly, June 7, 2001.) The United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) organized a special session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York in June 2001 to address the conditions of the world's cities in the new millennium. Secretary Martinez's U.N. speech is featured in The State of the World's Cities, 2001, the recently released third issue of Global Outlook, International Urban Research Monitor, a joint publication of HUD's Office of International Affairs and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. The challenge of global urbanization is the major theme of this report, which includes articles by key U.N. World Habitat staff. Looking separately at Africa, the Arab States, Asia and the Pacific, the highly industrialized countries, Latin America and the Caribbean, and countries with economies in transition, this edition of Global Outlook emphasizes how systems of governance, shelter, society, environment, and economy can enhance urban viability. Furthermore, the report finds that a country's global success and its overall human development rest on the shoulders of its cities. For the good of all citizens, the report emphasizes that city and State must become political partners, not competitors. According to the report, cities in developed countries are rapidly losing their place as the world's largest cities. Since 1980, Lagos, Nigeria; Tianjin, China; Hyderabad, India; and Lahore, Pakistan, among others, joined the ranks of the 30 largest cities. By 2010, Lagos will be the third largest city, while New York, Osaka, and London will have slipped in rank. Urbanization of poverty is growing: an estimated one-quarter to one-third of all urban households now live in absolute poverty. An article by Hernando De Soto of the Institute for Liberty and Democracy and Robert E. Litan of the Brookings Institution highlights how important it is to economic development to create formal property rights for the majority of people in developing countries. According to the authors, formal property rights are essential for expanding market values and opportunities for capital investment, asset creation, financial credit, entrepreneurship, job growth, and homeownership. This edition of Global Outlook also reports on low-income housing in India, community and economic development in Ghana, the 2001 Summit of the Americas held in Quebec, and the recent "Making Cities Work Partnership Forum" cosponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Wilson Center. Order Global Outlook, International Urban Research Monitor, The State of the World's Cities, 2001 from HUD USER free of charge. Use the order form. The report can also be downloaded from the HUD USER website at www.huduser.gov.
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