Habitat: 50 Years of Transforming Cities in Canada and the World

Half a century after the Vancouver Declaration first established adequate housing as a basic human right, UBC and UN-Habitat return to the city where it began — to take stock of what cities have become, and to chart what they must become next.

October 21-22, 2026

UBC Vancouver Keynote: Anacláudia Rossbach, Executive Director, UN-Habitat

Registration coming soon

Symposium agenda

About the Symposium

Mother Theresa, one of many international dignitaries, at Habitat I. Photo credit: Mark Osburn. Photo courtesy Lindsay Brown, habitat76.ca

From the Vancouver Declaration to the next 50 years of urban policy.

In 1976, more than 2,000 delegates from 130 countries gathered in Vancouver for the first United Nations Conference on Human Settlements — the largest UN conference of its time. The resulting Vancouver Declaration affirmed adequate shelter as a basic human right, called for state responsibility over land and planning, and laid the foundation for what would become UN-Habitat.

Fifty years later, the world has 2.8 billion inadequately housed people, 1.1 billion living in informal settlements, and a climate emergency reshaping every city on Earth. The 1976 questions are still the right questions. Habitat: 50 Years of Transforming Cities in Canada and the World brings the original conference’s spirit back to where it began — to evaluate the legacy of the Vancouver Declaration and ask what equitable, sustainable urbanism demands of us now.

View the Habitat I Story Map

Why Attend

Reasons to be in the room.

Engage with UN-Habitat

Keynote from Executive Director Anacláudia Rossbach, alongside global NGO leaders, planners, and policymakers — without leaving Vancouver.

Shape the next chapter

2026 launches UN-Habitat’s new Strategic Plan and the New Urban Agenda mid-term review. Decisions made now will shape global urban policy for a decade.

Cross-sector convening

Connect and collaborate with local academics, government, non-profit organizations, and industry — in structured dialogue, in one place.

A landmark Canadian moment

Habitat I was a signature Canadian contribution to global development policy. The 50th anniversary is your chance to be part of how that legacy continues.

Keynote Address

Reaffirming the global urban agenda from where it began.

United nations under-secretary-General & Executive Director, UN-Habitat

Anacláudia Rossbach

An economist with more than 20 years of experience in housing, informal settlements, and urban policy, Anacláudia Rossbach leads the United Nations agency for sustainable urbanization. She will deliver the symposium’s keynote address from the city that hosted the first global conversation on human settlements, and from which she will help launch UN-Habitat’s 2026–2029 Strategic Plan.

Program Themes

Four themes. Drawn from the Vancouver Declaration. Still the right questions.

Each theme will explored through 7-10 minute panelist provocations, followed by a moderated discussion with the audience.

Adequate & Affordable Housing

The right to adequate housing — including informal settlements and homelessness
Affordability in Vancouver, Canada, and the world

Participatory Planning & Governance

Voices of women, youth, the urban poor, and Indigenous peoples
Soliciting and mobilizing local knowledge

Environmental Sustainability

Environmental protection and sustainable resource use
Climate change, migration, and urban vulnerability

Enabling Technologies

Innovative solutions for everyday urban needs
Sustainable housing and energy technologies for local contexts

View our Featured Panelists

Program at a Glance

Two days at UBC. Global Reach.

People gathered inside the Forum Hall during Habitat Forum in Vancouver, 1976. — Inside the Plenary Hall at Habitat Forum, 1976. Photo credit: Alan Clapp, with permission from the Alan Clapp Collection. Photo courtesy Lindsay Brown, habitat76.ca

The symposium anchors a broader set of commemorative events in Canada and around the world.

Day 1

Welcome from UBC, Musqueam, and UN-Habitat leadership.
Panels on housing, land use, and participatory planning.
Rapid-fire student-led research insights
Keynote address by Anacláudia Rossbach, UN Under-Secretary-General & Executive Director, UN-Habitat
Evening reception at the Museum of Anthropology

Day 2

Panels on the legacy of Habitat Forum, urban resilience, and environmental sustainability
Student design competition awards
Technology tours; housing, energy, transportation & smart cities
Evening CBC Massey Lecture w/ Leilani Farha, former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Housing (tickets via York Theatre)

View the full agenda

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

Built for everyone shaping the next chapter of cities.

Policymakers

Urban Planners

Housing Advocates

Researchers & Students

Industry Innovators

Indigenous Nations

Designers & Developers

Non-Profit Organizations

Reserve your seat.

Vancouver, 1976. Vancouver, 2026. Be part of the conversation that connects them — and the one that shapes what comes next.