Alternative Futures: The Reallocation of Power and Responsibility

In order to meet shelter needs around the world, it is important to encourage the participation of civil society. This consultation identifies ways in which power and responsibility can be better allocated to enable individuals and communities to improve their own living conditions.

This report provides a summary of the discussions at a Consultation held at St Georges House in Windsor Castle to identify how individuals and communities can best be helped to release the potential and capacity they have to improve their own living conditions. Thirty people with a wide range of expertise and experience were brought together for two days and developed an Agenda for Action that dealt with the following issues:

• Global shelter beyond the year 2000.
• Enabling action to meet global shelter needs at community level.
• Government responsibilities to support and assist local efforts, including removal of obstacles such as access to land, housing finance and secure tenure.

The report includes sections on precursors to action, a world of cities with examples of community involvement and empowerment from Indonesia, Turkey and Denmark. It also sets out in detail how to achieve the recommendations included in the Agenda for Action.