The white paper puts forward recommendations for the coordinated enhancement of policies, codes, and regulations. It lay out a framework for guidance for the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), and the Review Committees of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) for the National Building Code (NBC), to harmonise their actions for healthy affordable housing in urban areas. The larger goal is to create an institutional and regulatory framework for mandating provisions for healthy and climate-resilient homes for low-income groups in India, that can be executed by Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and public and private developers.

This paper proposes a framework for a holistic definition of health and well-being for low-income housing in urban areas – encompassing physical, social, and psychological dimensions of health, and resilience against disruptions caused by climate change and other extreme events. The felt needs of women, the elderly, the disabled and the sick, and children are given due consideration, especially their need for safe and secure social interaction. A review of existing policies, programmes, codes, and regulations that guide the design and construction of low-income housing highlights the need for enhancement and amendment against a holistic definition of health. This enhancement in policies and programmes holds the potential to positively contribute to India’s adherence to the United Nations’ New Urban Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and support its commitment to reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP as pledged in its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) in 2022 as a part of the Paris Agreement.