World Habitat Day is observed every year on the first Monday of October throughout the world. It was officially designated by the United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

 and first celebrated in 1986. The purpose of the day is to reflect on the state of our cities and towns and the basic human right

Human rights

Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...

 to adequate shelter. It also aims to remind the world of its collective responsibility for the habitat of future generations.

Habitat Scroll of Honour

Habitat Scroll of Honour awards have been given out by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme

United Nations Human Settlements Programme

The United Nations Human Settlements Programme is the United Nations agency for human settlements. It was established in 1978 and has its headquarters at the United Nations Office at Nairobi, Kenya...

 (UNHSP) since 1989. The award acknowledges initiatives that make remarkable contributions to fields related to human habitats.
World habitat day is celebrating fantastically in India especially Kerala. By Saran

Previous World Habitat Days

Year	Theme	Venue	Chief Guest
2009	Planning our urban future	Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
2008	Harmonious Cities	Luanda, Angola	José Eduardo dos Santos José Eduardo dos Santos José Eduardo dos Santos is an Angolan politician who has been the second and current President of Angola since 1979. As President, José Eduardo dos Santos is also the commander in chief of the Angolan Armed Forces and president of the MPLA , the party that has been ruling Angola since...  - President of Angola
2007	A safe city is a just city	The Hague The Hague The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam... , Netherlands	Wim Deetman Wim Deetman Willem Joost "Wim" Deetman is a Dutch politician and statesman, former minister of education and mayor of The Hague... , Mayor of The Hague and chairman of UCLG
		Monterrey, Mexico	Beatriz Zavala Peniche Beatriz Zavala María Beatriz Zavala Peniche is a Mexican politician affiliated to the National Action Party who has served in the lower and upper house of the Mexican Congress... , Secretary of Social Development, (SEDESOL) on "Rescue of Public Spaces Programme"
2006	Cities, magnets of hope	Naples Naples Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...	Vittorio Craxi, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs in charge of Multi-lateral affairs
		Kazan Kazan Kazan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. With a population of 1,143,546 , it is the eighth most populous city in Russia. Kazan lies at the confluence of the Volga and Kazanka Rivers in European Russia. In April 2009, the Russian Patent Office granted Kazan the...	Kamil Iskhakov - Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of Russia in Far East Federal Region, President of the United Cities and Local Government Euro-Asia Regional Section
2005	The Millennium Development Goals and the City	Jakarta Jakarta Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...	President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono AC , is an Indonesian politician and retired Army general officer who has been President of Indonesia since 2004....
2004	Cities - Engines of Rural Development	Nairobi Nairobi Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...	President Mwai Kibaki Mwai Kibaki Mwai Kibaki is the current and third President of the republic of Kenya.Kibaki was previously Vice President of Kenya for ten years from 1978–1988 and also held cabinet ministerial positions, including a widely acclaimed stint as Minister for Finance , Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for...  of Kenya
2003	Water and Sanitation for Cities	Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...	César Maia Cesar Maia César Epitácio Maia is a Brazilian politician, notable for having been elected three times for mayor of Rio de Janeiro.A native of Rio, born in 1945, Maia was forced to leave Brazil in exile during the 1960s on account of his affiliation with the Brazilian Communist Party... , Mayor of Rio de Janeiro
2002	City-to-City Cooperation	Brussels Brussels Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...	H.R.H. Prince Philippe
2001	Cities without Slums	Fukuoka Fukuoka Fukuoka most often refers to the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture.It can also refer to:-Locations:* Fukuoka, Gifu, a town in Gifu Prefecture, Japan* Fukuoka, Toyama, a town in Toyama Prefecture, Japan...	Wataru Asō Wataru Aso is the former governor of Fukuoka Prefecture in Japan, first elected in 1995. From 2005-11 he was also President of the . A native of Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka and graduate of Kyoto University, he joined the Ministry of International Trade and Industry in 1963. He retired on the 22nd April 2011, and... , Governor of Fukuoka Prefecture
2000	Women in Urban Governance	Jamaica Jamaica Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...	Seymour Mullings, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Land and Environment
1999	Cities for All	Dalian Dalian Dalian is a major city and seaport in the south of Liaoning province, Northeast China. It faces Shandong to the south, the Yellow Sea to the east and the Bohai Sea to the west and south. Holding sub-provincial administrative status, Dalian is the southernmost city of Northeast China and China's...	Yu Zhengsheng Yu Zhengsheng Yu Zhengsheng is the current CPC party chief in Shanghai, China, a post which makes him first-in-charge of China's largest city. Formerly the party chief in Hubei, Yu is also concurrently a member of the Politburo, and has been since 2002.- Early life :... , Minister of Construction, China
1998	Safer Cities	Dubai Dubai Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...	Qasim Sultan Al Banna Qasim Sultan Al Banna Qasim Sultan al-Banna has been director general of Dubai Municipality since 1992. He was educated till 10th standard in Dubai schools and started his career as a land surveyor in Dubai municipality in 1958 until he was retired in 2006. He grew in the engineering field and then in administrative... , Director General, Dubai Municipality UAE
1997	Future Cities	Bonn Bonn Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....	Klaus Topfer Klaus Töpfer Klaus Töpfer is a German politician and environmental politics expert. From 1998 to 2006 he was executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme .... , Federal Minister for Regional Planning, Building and Urban Development, Germany
1996	Urbanization, Citizenship and Human Solidarity	Budapest Budapest Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...	Minister of the Interior, Hungary
1995	Our Neighbourhood	Curitiba Curitiba Curitiba is the capital of the Brazilian state of Paraná. It is the largest city with the biggest economy of both Paraná and southern Brazil. The population of Curitiba numbers approximately 1.75 million people and the latest GDP figures for the city surpass US$61 billion according to...	Mayor of Curitiba
1994	Home and the Family	Dakar Dakar Dakar is the capital city and largest city of Senegal. It is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula on the Atlantic coast and is the westernmost city on the African mainland...	Abdou Diouf Abdou Diouf Abdou Diouf was the second President of Senegal, serving from 1981 to 2000. Diouf is notable both for coming to power by peaceful succession, and leaving willingly after losing the 2000 presidential election to Abdoulaye Wade... , President of Senegal
1993	Women and Shelter Development	New York City	Boutros Boutros-Ghali Boutros Boutros-Ghali Boutros Boutros-Ghali is an Egyptian politician and diplomat who was the sixth Secretary-General of the United Nations from January 1992 to December 1996... , Secretary-General of the United Nations
1992	Shelter and Sustainable Development	New York City	Boutros Boutros-Ghali Boutros Boutros-Ghali Boutros Boutros-Ghali is an Egyptian politician and diplomat who was the sixth Secretary-General of the United Nations from January 1992 to December 1996... , Secretary-General of the United Nations
1991	Shelter and the Living Environment	Hiroshima Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...	Mayor of Hiroshima
1990	Shelter and Urbanization	London	Sir Geoffrey Howe Geoffrey Howe Richard Edward Geoffrey Howe, Baron Howe of Aberavon, CH, QC, PC is a former British Conservative politician. He was Margaret Thatcher's longest-serving Cabinet minister, successively holding the posts of Chancellor of the Exchequer, Foreign Secretary, and finally Leader of the House of Commons...
1989	Shelter, Health and the Family	Jakarta Jakarta Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...	Suharto, President of Indonesia
1988	Shelter and Community	London	Robert Runcie Robert Runcie Robert Alexander Kennedy Runcie, Baron Runcie, PC, MC was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1980 to 1991.-Early life:... , Archbishop of Canterbury
1987	Shelter for the Homeless	New York New York New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...	Javier Pérez de Cuéllar Javier Pérez de Cuéllar Javier Pérez de Cuéllar y de la Guerra is a Peruvian diplomat who served as the fifth Secretary-General of the United Nations from January 1, 1982 to December 31, 1991. He studied in Colegio San Agustín of Lima, and then at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. In 1995, he ran unsuccessfully... , Secretary-General of the United Nations
1986	Shelter is my Right	Nairobi Nairobi Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...