The Istanbul Declaration and the Habitat Agenda were adopted in 1996 at the second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements, known as Habitat II, held in Istanbul. The agenda committed signatory governments to two central goals: adequate shelter for all and the development of sustainable human settlements in an urbanising world. It set out principles, commitments and a plan of action covering housing, infrastructure, governance and participation. The conference brought together national governments, local authorities and civil-society organisations.
It established a rights-based framework for global urban policy, treating decent housing and sustainable settlement as shared international commitments. Its agenda shaped subsequent UN-Habitat work and fed into later milestones such as the New Urban Agenda.
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