Source:<https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/habitat_ii_1300x500.jpg>
Habitat II was held in Istanbul, Turkey, from June 3-14, 1996, with the theme "Adequate shelter for all and sustainable development of human settlements in the context of increasing urbanization". More than 3,000 government representatives from 171 Member States, more than 600 representatives of local authorities, more than 2,000 representatives of non-governmental organizations, more than 50 relevant agencies of the United Nations system, and 3,000 journalists, totaling more than 15,000 participants, attended the conference. There were more than 180 general statements in the plenary sessions. There were 110 speeches at the high-level meeting, including five presidents, two vice presidents, six prime ministers, and one deputy prime minister. A delegation of the Chinese government, headed by Minister Hou Jie of the Ministry of Construction, attended the General Assembly; together with personnel from the Chinese Permanent Mission to the United Nations, the Embassy in Turkey and the China Representative Office to UN-Habitat, the Chinese government was represented by 46 people.
In his opening remarks, UN Secretary-General Gali said that by the year 2000, about half of the world's population will be living in cities, and that issues of employment, housing, infrastructure and environmental safety will be challenges for cities, particularly in developing countries.
Vice Premier Zou Jiahua attended the second phase of the high-level meeting, where he presented the Chinese government's position on the issue of human settlements, noting that "adequate housing for all" is one of the most basic human rights and an important element of the right to human survival and development.
Minister Hou Jie elaborated the views of the Chinese government: (1) the key to solving human settlement problems is to promote economic development and eliminate poverty; (2) attention should be paid to harmonious and sustainable development with population and environment; (3) broad participation of the whole society is needed; (4) the approach of giving equal importance to urban and rural areas should be implemented; (5) it should be based on national conditions; (6) effective international cooperation is needed.
The Istanbul Declaration on Human Settlement and the Habitat Agenda were adopted by the General Assembly. The Habitat Agenda is an extension of Agenda 21, adopted by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in 1992, in the field of human settlements. From Agenda 21 onwards, countries around the world began to expand the concept of "environment" to include issues related to women, children, poverty and other aspects of development. The Habitat Agenda thus became a "worldwide action plan for sustainable development", a guiding document for governments, UN organizations, development agencies, NGOs and independent groups in building human settlements.
According to UN Secretary-General Gali, the Habitat Agenda is a global action plan that embodies the vision of viable, safe, affluent, healthy and equitable urban and rural settlements that humanity desires, a collective answer to the challenges of urbanization, and a plan that will determine the pattern of development for generations to come. Secretary-General Gali called on all national governments, both central and local, and non-governmental organizations to take up the mission of implementing the Habitat Agenda.
During Habitat II, an award ceremony was held for the Dubai International Award for the best example of improving the living environment. Twelve projects, including the "Rural Post-Disaster Reconstruction" project in Anhui, China, were awarded. The conference also held an exhibition of Habitat achievements from around the world. The Chinese pavilion consisted of three parts: residential construction, urban construction, and village construction, with an exhibition area of 500 m2 and rich exhibition content, including 450 photos, five models, TV videos, diagrams, and 30 children's drawings.
"Five years after Habitat II, the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Human Settlements (Istanbul+5) was held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from June 6 to 8, 2001, which comprehensively reviewed and evaluated the implementation of the Habitat Agenda adopted at the Habitat II Conference. The conference conducted a comprehensive review and appraisal of the implementation of the Habitat Agenda adopted by the Habitat II Conference. In the same year, the twenty-fifth special session of the United Nations conducted a review of the implementation of the Habitat Agenda. It adopted the Declaration on Cities and Other Human Settlements in the New Millennium. The irreversibility of urbanization was recognized, and it was acknowledged that the process of urbanization would accelerate rapidly in the future. The main response to this was a reaffirmation of the commitments of the Istanbul Declaration on Human Settlements and a call to redouble efforts to implement previously agreed actions to achieve the goals of the Habitat Agenda.
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Translated by Chen Yan
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