Beyond the Smart City: Whose Intelligence Matters?
World Cities Day 2025 celebrates “People-centred Smart Cities”—a vision worth pursuing and one that requires that we explore what it means to truly center people in our vision of the future. The smart city narrative promises elegant solutions: sensors, algorithms, and data analytics making cities more efficient, sustainable, and livable. Yet across cities worldwide, these […]
Q3 2025 Newsletter
CESCR Concluding observations to the Netherlands— Recommendations
Fighting for Human Rights at the Heart of EU Housing Policy
The Shift is working to ensure the human right to housing stands at the foundation of the European Union’s first-ever Affordable Housing Plan, a historic moment as the EU steps into housing policy after a long precedent of the opposite. Through our Taskforce on Sustainable Affordable Housing, created alongside the Institute for Human Rights and […]
Q2 2025 Newsletter Edition
The Planet is Home
Home is where we feel safe, where we belong, where we build the relationships that give life meaning. We understand instinctively that home is precious; that its loss represents trauma extending far beyond the physical structure. The planet is home in exactly this way. Not metaphorically, but materially. The air we breathe, the water we […]
We’re Asking the Wrong Questions About the Housing Crisis
October 6 marks Urban Crisis Response Day, a moment to examine not just how we respond to crises, but what questions guide our responses in the first place. Cities worldwide face what leaders call a “housing crisis.” They have largely defined this crisis as a crisis of supply, rather than what it truly is: […]
THE SHIFT SUBMITS PARALLEL REPORT FOR UN CESCR REVIEW OF GERMANY
TASH Responds to EU’s First-Ever Affordable Housing Plan
Last month, the Taskforce on Affordable and Sustainable Housing (TASH) submitted critical feedback to the European Union as part of a call for evidence regarding the EU’s development of its first-ever affordable housing plan. The initiative aims to address the housing crisis affecting millions across Europe, but TASH’s response highlighted significant gaps that demand attention. […]
Human Rights Scorecard for Cities
In April of this year, The Shift brought together experts and municipal leaders for the Beyond Tents: Rethinking Encampments webinar, to explore how a human rights approach can transform local responses to homelessness. As part of the tools provided to attendees, we created the Human Rights Scorecard for cities to assess how well their current […]
