【明報專訊】When decent living conditions are becoming all the more elusive in Hong Kong, World Habitat Day (世界人居日) (today) is a clarion call for our society to act.

What is a habitat?

''Habitat'' usually refers to ''the natural home of a plant or animal''. But the emphasis of World Habitat Day is humans living conditions. World Habitat Day has the following focal areas:

●Inclusive housing and social services

●A safe and healthy living environment for all, with particular consideration for children, youth, women, the elderly and the disabled

●Affordable and sustainable transport and energy

●Promotion, protection and restoration of green urban spaces

●Safe and clean drinking water and sanitation

●Healthy air quality

●Job creation

●Improved urban planning and slum upgrading

●Better waste management

◆Basic Facts

Date: The first Monday of October

Year of establishment: 1985

Proclaimed by: the United Nations General Assembly (聯合國大會)

Aim: to reflect on the state of our towns and cities and on the basic right to adequate shelter (居所)

Habitat III

This year's World Habitat Day will coincide with Habitat III, - the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development. The conference is to take place in Quito, Ecuador, from 17 to 20 October 2016. It is aimed at securing political commitment to sustainable urban development, assessing accomplishments to date, addressing poverty and identifying and addressing new and emerging challenges.

◆Living conditions in Hong Kong

Despite Hong Kong's prosperity, many Hong Kong people reside in subdivided units (殺房) and have to endure cramped, poor and unhygienic living conditions. In July 2015, the Census and Statistics Department (統計處) published figures related to the problem for the first time. The department found that there were 86,400 subdivided flats in Hong Kong, accommodating around 200,000 people. Most of those living in subdivided flats were between 25 to 44 years old (38.6%). Those in the 45-64 age bracket came second (23.9%).

People living in subdivided flats are not necessarily on low incomes. According to the study, nearly 70% of subdivided-flat residents were engaged in economic activities. In other words, they either had a job or owned a business. Their median income was ＄11,800.

The problem of people living in industrial buildings (工業大廈) is also worrying. According to the Society for Community Organisation(社區組織協會), around 10,000 people live in industrial buildings. Industrial building land leases (地契) bar them from doing so, but those people, many of whom are on the waiting list for public housing (公屋輪候冊), cannot afford exorbitant residential-building rents.

Living in subdivided units has to do with numerous problems like fire hazards and unhygienic conditions. The government has been called upon to get more housing built to cope with the ubiquity of subdivided units.