Over 60 OECD Champion Mayors endorse new “Brussels Blueprint for Affordable Cities and Housing for All”
13 June 2023
The OECD Champion Mayors for Inclusive Growth gathered today for their sixth meeting at the Brussels Urban Summit. With OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann, they endorsed the “Brussels Blueprint for Affordable Cities and Housing for All,” to ease short-term pressures on the cost of living and to ramp up action on housing.
Double-digit inflation across the OECD has disproportionately affected low-income households, deepening pre-existing inequalities. The urban poor, as well as the squeezed middle class, were already struggling to keep up with soaring rents and house prices prior to the cost-of-living crisis. Real house prices rose by 77% between 1996 and 2022 in OECD countries, with the most severe pressures in cities. In 2021, a house in an urban area was around 50% more expensive than one in a remote region[1].
Read the "Brussels Blueprint for Affordable Cities and Housing for All."
Read the OECD report, Brick by Brick: Better Housing Policies in the Post-COVID-19 Era.
Explore more OECD work on affordable cities housing.
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The OECD Champion Mayors for Inclusive Growth Initiative is a coalition of local leaders committed to tackling inequalities and promoting inclusive economic growth in cities. It has brought together more than 100 mayors since its launch in 2016, exchanging lessons, ideas and policies that promote equality and sustainability in their cities. Dagur Eggertsson, Mayor of Reykjavik, currently chairs the Initiative, which is managed by the OECD’s Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities.
The Brussels Urban Summit is a joint initiative between the OECD, Eurocities, Metropolis and the Brussels Capital Region, gathering over 2,000 participants from 600 cities, including 130 mayors worldwide, to exchange ideas and set the priorities for sustainable, affordable and liveable cities.
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Media contact: Shayne.MacLachlan@oecd.org
[1] across 17 OECD countries with available data
