To House Better, Let’s Innovate More!

By Prudence Adjanohoun, Secretary General of the Réseau Habitat et Francophonie and International Affairs Officer at the Union sociale pour l’habitat

The African continent faces a housing deficit of more than 53 million units[1]. States, local authorities, developers, financiers, urban planners… Over the past few years, we have witnessed an unprecedented collective mobilization of all stakeholders.

This is historic and deserves recognition. It also reflects a powerful wave of innovation in response to the urgent need to build more housing—better housing, for all, and above all, at lower cost. These innovations—whether in financing mechanisms, new paradigms, or new ways of building and imagining the city—are now part of a deliberate and forward-looking approach.

This article, while not exhaustive, examines emerging practices, highlights the committed work of professionals on the ground, and shares a number of good practices that can serve as examples—if not models. It confirms that innovation—whether technical, social, managerial, or financial—now lies at the heart of responses to the housing crisis.

In a context of shrinking resources and rising demand, agility, experimentation, and the transformation of practices have become imperatives. The projects that deserve support are those that combine environmental performance (land efficiency, carbon neutrality), economic accessibility (affordable and sustainable housing), and social impact (inclusion, employment-housing linkages, combating isolation).

To better structure innovation at national and international levels, we must promote the pooling of initiatives, the sharing of successful experiences, stronger public support for pilot projects, and improved evaluation of the social and environmental impact of these innovations.

Responding to Urgency and Demand: Building More, at Lower Cost

Housing needs across African countries represent more than $1.3 trillion in required investment[2] and call for a coordinated response from governments and all actors involved in the housing production chain. Rapid urbanization further intensifies pressure each year on land supply, basic services, and urban infrastructure.

Long considered a secondary public policy, housing is now recognized as a genuine economic driver, a social stabilizer, and a growth accelerator. Well-structured housing policies have consistently proven effective when approached through coordinated dynamics—particularly in industrializing construction material production, harmonizing technical standards, and strengthening financing mechanisms. Several examples are presented at the end of this article.

One major obstacle remains the lack of projects adequately prepared from both technical and financial standpoints. Another challenge is the collection of reliable, up-to-date data. Housing observatories should play a stronger role by cross-referencing statistical databases and creating shared benchmarks useful for all stakeholders—developers, governments, local authorities, financial institutions, and buyers.

Addressing the Housing Crisis Through Innovation and Best Practice Exchange

How can we ensure the well-being of the 8.5 billion people who will inhabit our planet by 2030? This is the great demographic and social transition challenge—and it is also the great housing challenge. To guarantee everyone access to decent, durable, resilient, and above all affordable housing, innovation and adaptation to emerging challenges are essential.

Housing tensions are now global. Everywhere, prices rise faster than incomes, supply does not always keep pace with demand, major metropolitan areas concentrate inequalities, and territories face dual ecological and social pressures. Making housing an opportunity for collective innovation—within a clearly sustainable and inclusive framework—has become a priority.

Debates across various forums converge on a shared diagnosis: the current crisis is multifactorial. It results from economic constraints (high interest rates, shrinking public funding, limited mortgage access), land-related obstacles (land artificialization, insufficient urban planning), climate challenges (energy renovation urgency, resilience to heatwaves), and sociological shifts (aging populations, new housing forms, evolving needs of young people and families).

Affordable housing, a pillar of sustainable development, plays a strategic role in achieving several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly those related to inclusive cities, access to basic services, reducing inequalities, strengthening social cohesion, and advancing ecological transition.

For many developing countries, the challenge is no longer simply to produce housing, but to produce it better—at the right location, for the right populations, under sound societal and organizational conditions. Urban planning can no longer be disconnected from mobility systems, public services, natural resources, and the real financial capacity of households—what we refer to as “essential services.”

In this respect, separating land ownership from buildings, developing innovative guarantee mechanisms, and optimizing existing assets are promising approaches. They help overcome speculative logic, limit urban sprawl, and accelerate the production of accessible housing.

360-Degree Innovation: Global, Cross-Cutting, and Grounded in Reality

Innovation—technical, social, institutional, financial, or partnership-based—must be understood as a comprehensive ecosystem. While technical innovation (low-carbon buildings, sustainable materials, digitalization, artificial intelligence) often comes first to mind, equally critical dimensions include social innovation, institutional innovation, financial innovation, and partnership innovation, as well as institutional reforms and ecological transition factors.

Socially, closer collaboration between employers and developers, and between governments and promoters—especially in post-industrial territories—is essential. The employment-housing link, still underutilized in many developing countries, must help anticipate needs and secure both residential and professional pathways.

Institutionally, support for public policies at local and national levels is indispensable. Technical assistance, clear regulation, and dialogue between public and private actors ensure the viability of strategies.

Financially, innovations such as very long-term loans, blended public-private financing mechanisms, and data-driven renovation prioritization tools are promising. The challenge is enabling investment in a context of limited margins and immense needs.

Innovation must also respond to ecological transition imperatives. Housing both contributes to global warming and is among its primary victims. Adapting existing stock, building without further land artificialization, integrating biodiversity, and promoting resource efficiency are now unavoidable objectives.

Partnership-based innovation in social housing—bringing together public authorities, private sector, and civil society—must scale up to deliver local, efficient, and frugal solutions that meet growing needs in rapidly changing urban contexts.

Repeated heatwaves, resource pressure, and energy performance requirements demand structural responses. Innovative tools are already being deployed: real-time energy mapping, AI-driven renovation strategies, and positive-energy or circular-economy-based buildings.

Major international events also demonstrate that it is possible to build quickly, efficiently, and with low carbon impact. In Paris, the Athletes’ Village built for the Olympic Games will be transformed in 2025 into 2,800 housing units, most of them social and intermediate housing managed by CDC Habitat. This project combines architectural innovation, low-carbon materials, and lasting social diversity—proving that major international events can leave a meaningful urban legacy that addresses housing needs. A model that can be replicated in cities hosting large international events.

Land: The Cornerstone of Urban Regulation

In many countries, land costs now represent the largest share of real estate projects. In response, several tools are emerging: mobilizing public land reserves, conditioning subsidies on social objectives, long-term leases, and creating community land trusts.

Vertical housing, once culturally resisted in some regions, is gaining ground in response to urban land scarcity. High-rise housing enables better distribution of land resources, though it requires sociological, architectural, and regulatory support. Social and functional mix remain central objectives: we are no longer simply building housing units, but living and sustainable neighborhoods.

Cooperation Within the Francophone Space: Acting Quickly and Effectively

On October 2, 2024, the Caisse des Dépôts, the Réseau Habitat et Francophonie, and the Union sociale pour l’habitat organized a major workshop during the Francophonie Summit titled “Housing, Innovating, and Cooperating in French.” Fifty participants from around ten countries shared innovations in affordable housing within an international francophone framework.

Countries highlighted their specific challenges—rural exodus, informality, inadequate housing, demographic pressure—but also their innovative responses. Discussions showed that cooperation can generate unexpected solutions, particularly where private sector engagement remains cautious and regulatory frameworks unstable.

Participants expressed the need for a francophone network to share data, expertise, and experience, supporting local project leaders and harmonizing good practices. Linguistic and cultural solidarity can translate into operational partnerships, knowledge transfer, and coordinated action in international forums.

Several initiatives were praised for turning public policy into concrete action: slum eradication programs, affordable homeownership support, responsible land allocation to developers, and assisted self-construction schemes. These demonstrate that with clear vision and appropriate engineering, large-scale impact is possible.

However, challenges persist: financing gaps, lack of reliable data, absence of guarantee mechanisms, and weak public-private dialogue. The workshop therefore called for stronger structuring of the housing production chain—from planning to management, including financing and citizen participation.

A strong political message emerged: affordable housing cannot depend solely on the will of a single actor. Responsibility must be shared among states, local authorities, housing providers, companies, citizens, international organizations, and users themselves.

Innovation, though indispensable, cannot replace political courage, continuity in public strategies, and the recognition of housing—and land sharing—not as commodities, but as fundamental rights.

Participants emphasized the need for responsible public procurement capable of steering projects toward high social and environmental value, alongside better evaluation of policies and stronger resident involvement in shaping their living environments.

Keep Innovating—and Make It Known!

To conclude, we present eleven innovative projects recognized for their outstanding contribution to the social housing sector through the Innovation Awards presented at the HLM Congress in previous editions.

Nouveau projet de logements à Libreville à Bikele Cité Mvett 

1. Label Logement des Hauts – SHLMR (La Réunion) - 2024

Ce label vise à adapter les logements situés en altitude (>600 m) aux conditions climatiques spécifiques de La Réunion, en améliorant le confort thermique et la durabilité des bâtiments. Pour en savoir plus

2. Espace Tranqu'Ill – Habitat de l'Ill (Grand Est) - 2024

Un tiers-lieu dédié aux seniors, offrant des activités culturelles, sportives et numériques pour favoriser le lien social et le maintien à domicile. Pour en savoir plus

3. Les Mots Nous Manquent – OPAC Saône-et-Loire (Bourgogne-Franche-Comté) - 2024

Création d'une bande dessinée en collaboration avec des familles syriennes pour faciliter leur intégration et valoriser la diversité culturelle. Pour en savoir plus 

4. 17 rue des Quatre Cheminées – Seine Ouest Habitat et Patrimoine (Île-de-France) - 2024

Construction d'un immeuble de huit logements sociaux utilisant des matériaux biosourcés (bois, pierre, terre) et une toiture végétalisée, visant une faible empreinte carbone. Pour en savoir plus 

5. Le Lab by Altémed – ACM Habitat (Occitanie) - 2024

Un laboratoire d'innovation managériale favorisant la créativité et l'expérimentation au sein de l'organisme pour améliorer les pratiques professionnelles. Pour en savoir plus

6. Équilibre, l’Harmonie du Bois & du Béton – Promologis (Occitanie) - 2024

Projet architectural combinant bois et béton pour une construction durable, ayant reçu le prix "Coup de cœur" de la Banque des Territoires. Pour en savoir plus

7. Montjovis - Limoges Habitat (Nouvelle-Aquitaine) – Prix de l’innovation bas carbone - 2021

Approche éco-responsable dans la construction ou la rénovation de logements. Pour en savoir plus

8. Plaine Commune Habitat (Île-de-France) – Prix de l’innovation sociale - 2021

"Pack Emploi-Logement" : dispositif facilitant l'accès à l'emploi et au logement. Pour en savoir plus

9. SDH (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes) – Prix de l’innovation technique - 2021

"Le TOTEM, Opération Manag’r" : utilisation de nouvelles techniques de construction. Pour en savoir plus

10. Valloire Habitat – « Mille aiguilles : plus que des points ! » - 2023

Un atelier de couture haut de gamme à Montargis, dédié à l’insertion professionnelle de femmes éloignées de l’emploi. Un projet qui lie savoir-faire, inclusion et retour à l’autonomie. Pour en savoir plus

11. Lyon Métropole Habitat – « SPOT » - 2023

Un terrain multisports inclusif de 3 700 m² co-construit avec les habitants en quartier prioritaire, pour promouvoir santé, mixité et lien social en lien avec les JOP 2024. Pour en savoir plus

Learn more about Trophées de l’innovation Hlm

[1] Source: IFC – World Bank Group, “IFC Strengthens Housing Finance in Africa.”

[2] Ibidem

This English translation was prepared with the assistance of DeepL, a language model developed by OpenAI, based on the original French article published in May 2025 on the AdP – Villes en Développement bulletin website.