New York, October 17, 2026.- Cities have the potential to lift millions of people out of poverty, but current patterns of urban development too often deepen inequality, exclusion and human rights violations, the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Elena Díaz Galán, said today as she presented her first thematic report to the General Assembly.
“Urbanisation is not merely a demographic trend; it is a political, economic and social process that profoundly effects the enjoyment of human rights, the distribution of opportunities and the reduction or worsening of poverty,” Díaz Galán said.
The report examines how urbanisation is reshaping poverty around the world. Whilst cities have the potential to expand access to jobs, education, healthcare, services and political participation, they can also reproduce and intensify poverty through unaffordable housing, displacement, segregation, inadequate public services and exclusionary planning.
“Cities are human made. The type of urbanisation that is pursued is a political choice. Just as poverty is not inevitable, neither is the way our cities develop,” the expert said.
The report argues that urban poverty extends well beyond income deprivation. Millions of people living in cities face intersecting barriers to affordable housing, healthcare, education, water and sanitation, transport, digital connectivity and decent work, limiting their ability to participate fully in society and live in dignity.
The Special Rapporteur warned that the global housing affordability crisis, growing spatial segregation and the criminalisation of poverty and homelessness undermine the human rights of people living in poverty. She called on States and local authorities to adopt human rights-based approaches to urbanisation, grounded in equality, participation and accountability.
“Rights-based solutions are not only more humane, they are also more effective,” Díaz Galán said.
The expert called for expanded affordable housing, protection against forced displacement, universal access to essential services and meaningful participation of people living in poverty in decisions affecting their lives.
“Urbanisation can reduce poverty, but only if it is guided by human rights,” the Special Rapporteur said. “Eradicating poverty is defending human dignity.”