The World Cities Report 2026 by the UN-Habitat and World Urban Forum has revealed that 40% of the global population is affected by a housing crisis, with unsatisfactory living conditions, lack of access to water and sanitation. Housing prices have increased faster than incomes, with the average price-to-income ratio rising from 9.3 in 2010 to 11.2 globally and 16.8 for Central and South Asia in 2023.
India is one of the worst-affected countries, with nearly 84% of its population residing in urban settlements, according to the UN’s Degree of Urbanisation framework. This is significantly higher than the government’s estimate of 36%. The National Institute of Urban Affairs has recommended a new national settlement classification framework to capture the rapidly evolving urban landscape, as a substantial share of urbanisation is taking place beyond officially recognised towns and cities.
The government has announced financial aid for City Economic Regions in the last Budget, but the issue of affordable housing remains a significant challenge. Affordable housing in India declined in the eight largest metropolises from 52% of new builds in 2018 to just 17% in 2025. The Economic Survey highlighted that India has an estimated urban affordable housing deficit of 9.4 million units, which is projected to rise to nearly 20 million by 2030.
The rise of slums and squatter settlements is intrinsically related to the problem of homelessness, which is a severe cause for concern in India. Government schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana have attempted to address the shortage, but the scale, financing, and land constraints continue to limit impact. Homelessness brings with it several problems, including sanitation, pollution, crime vulnerability, and various social problems.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs defines homelessness as a situation where an individual or family does not have a place of residence to live in, or lives in a public or private shelter not meant for human habitation. However, the socio-economic dimension of homelessness is often overlooked, and the conventional understanding of homelessness is limited to ‘rooflessness’.
The issue of homelessness is complex and requires adequate funds and availability of land. The government needs to raise funds and involve the private sector in building homes for the homeless. Business houses should be asked to build homes for the homeless in places where they undertake projects. From the human development perspective, sincere efforts must be made in improving and expanding shelter programmes for the poor and marginalised sections in a time-bound manner.
