1. Global Homelessness threatens nations: UN A half billion people in cities and towns worldwide are homeless or live in slums; a problem that threatening the economic and social fabric of many nations. Homelessness is on the increase everywhere in the developed world as well as in the underdeveloped world.

2. No one can afford the exploding urban blight, socially, economically, and politically. Housing shortages and poor housing conditions, unsafe water and poor sanitation in densely populated cities are responsible for the ten million deaths worldwide every year.

3. The problem is getting worse because housing cannot keep up with an exploding urban population which will double from 2.4 billion in 1995 to more than 5 billion in 2025. As a result we will witness at least a doubling of the homeless and shelterless people.

4. Examples of Cities with the problem: Addis Ababa, Jakarta, Bombay, Bogota, …etc. To cope with the urban population explosion, the UN agency (HABITAT) called for: A new partnership between governments and businesses. Better use of scarce resources. The elimination of excessive building regulations.

5. One of the most important factors is how we release the land, how we provide access to the land, and who controls the land? By the year 2015 the ten largest cities in the world will be in Asia, Latin America and Africa. Only one of them _Tokyo, with 28.7 million inhabitants- will be in an industrial country. The others: Bombay with 27.4 million residents, Lagos 24.4 million, Shanghai 23.4 million, Jakarta 21.2 million, Sao Paulo 20.8 million, Karachi 20.6 million, Beijing 19.4 million, and Mexico city 18.8 million – will all be in the developing world.

6. New York, and Los Angeles in the US and Seoul will fall from the top ten in the next 20 years.