People are at the centre of the concept of sustainable development and are the basis for all actions taken under the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements, which recognises that rural and urban areas are economically, socially and environmentally interdependent and that cities and towns are engines of growth which contribute to the development rural and urban human settlements. Allied to the problem of the homeless on our streets, the crisis in social and affordable housing will be one of the worst legacies the Government will leave behind when it vacates office.