Business Roundtable on Corporate Leadership for Sustainable Urbanization: Discussion Paper

The reality of urban development is that commerce and industry are two of its core drivers. Without the full participation of the private sector in efforts towards sustainable human settlements, the present and looming crisis of rapid urbanization, particularly in the South, will not be mitigated. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of issues related to private sector engagement in sustainable human settlements development, and to present possible strategies for enhancing UN-HABITAT’s engagement with the private sector in order to strengthen the effectiveness of approaches to addressing these issues. [The paper formed a basis for discussions during the Private Sector roundtable at the WUF in June 2006.]