Journal

The UN estimates over a billion people live without adequate housing. World Architecture Day 2026's theme asks architects to treat that as a design problem worth solving, not just a policy issue to leave to governments. This year's call is for architects to close that gap, through material choice, land use, incremental building, whatever it takes to make good design available beyond the top of the market. That extends to who owns a community's public spaces too, and who gets a say in how they're used. These are some of the people already doing exactly that.