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QUITO, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa on Monday inaugurated the 3rd United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development, or Habitat III, taking place in the capital Quito through Thursday.
Correa singled out "land speculation" as one of the biggest problems facing fair and affordable housing, calling profiteering from such speculation "illegitimate" and "immoral".
"Public sector investment in infrastructure and services raised the price of land and generates illegitimate gains for a select few, increasing inequality," said Correa.
To discourage land speculation, Correa said he will be presenting a bill to the National Assembly so that "unlawful gains" from land speculation are funneled to local governments.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also addressed the opening of the landmark conference, attended by some 45,000 participants, including several heads of state and 140 delegations from around the globe.
"Urban areas are expanding rapidly, especially in developing countries, and that expansion is frequently unplanned," said Ban, noting "more than half of the world population already lives in cities and human settlements."
Due to rapid and uncontrolled urbanization, compounded by inequity, "approximately a quarter of urban dwellers live in slums or informal settlements," added Ban, highlighting the issues the conference hopes to tackle.
In the next four days, participants aim to put together a new urban development agenda that will lead to more sustainable and equitable cities.
Attendance at the conference "has surpassed our expectations," Correa said, adding "we hope for the decisive commitment of states to fulfill the goals over the next 20 years."
Ecuador is hosting the landmark conference, which takes place only once every two decades, as it worked to rebuild communities along the country's northern coast that were devastated by a powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake on April 16, killing 673 people.
Habitat III runs from Monday to Thursday. The first UN Conference on Human Settlements took place in Vancouver, Canada in 1976. Habitat II took place in Istanbul, Turkey in 1996.
