After last year’s adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the year 2016 promises to be a landmark year for international housing policy agendas. In October, the UN Habitat III Conference (also referred to as ‘Habitat III’) will be held in Quito, Ecuador. After the successful inclusion of Sustainable Development Goal 11 on urban development and its ratification in the General Assembly of the UN by heads of state in September 2015, it is now time to consider how the ambition of making cities and human settlements ‘inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable’ can be realized. Will ‘Habitat III’ actually introduce a new paradigm shift that is able to substantially change urban policymaking? And what will the impact be on mainstream housing policies? Target 11.1 of the Sustainable Development Goal 11 states: ‘By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums’. That target alone represents a substantial task. The theme of this special issue is sustainable housing for the urban poor in the Global South. In this introduction, we will discuss some of the most relevant dimensions of urban sustainability relating to low-income housing and then introduce the papers of this special issue. First, the focus will be on the relationship between sustainability and low-income housing. Next, housing sustainability will be placed in a systemic framework that is based on ecological models. In the third section, it is argued that a cross-fertilization between housing solutions and social innovation fosters housing sustainability. This will be followed by a discussion on urban shelter policies and their implications for a new urban housing agenda. Finally, the contributions to this volume will be presented.

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