Mega projects do little to calm Iraq's housing crisis
Despite several mega housing projects launched in Iraq, most notably the Al-Rafeel City project and Bismayah New City in Baghdad, Iraq still needs millions of houses to end the housing crisis.
The lack of affordable housing is one of Iraq’s deepest crises, with a severe shortage of housing units estimated to be 3.5 million, according to Iraq's Ministry of Construction, Housing, Municipalities and Public Works.
Population growth, rural-to-urban migration, lack of financial and natural resources, crises and conflicts that have dragged for more than four decades, the repercussions of the Islamic State’s (IS) occupation of the country, and the destruction of homes, infrastructure and public facilities have all exacerbated the housing crisis and increased homelessness and slums in the cities and their outskirts.
