13th edition of World Urban Forum concludes in Baku

• The thirteenth session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) concluded in Baku, Azerbaijan on May 22.

• The largest World Urban Forum on record, organised by UN‑Habitat together with the government of Azerbaijan, brought together more than 57,000 participants from 176 countries, including over 3,000 joining online.

• Baku hosted 11 Heads of State, 88 ministers and 130 mayors. 

• The theme of WUF13 was “Housing the world: Safe and resilient cities and communities”.

• Azerbaijan declared 2026 the “Year of Urban Planning and Architecture”.

What is World Urban Forum?

• The World Urban Forum (WUF) was established in 2001 by the United Nations to address one of the most pressing issues facing the world today — rapid urbanisation and its impact on communities, cities, economies, climate change and policies.

• It is a non-legislative technical forum convened by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), hosted in a different city every two years.

• The Forum is a high level, open and inclusive platform for addressing the challenges of sustainable urbanisation.

• The first WUF took place in 2002.

Objectives of WUF:

i) Raising awareness of sustainable urbanisation among stakeholders and constituencies, including the general public.

ii) Improving collective knowledge on sustainable urban development through open and inclusive debate, exchange of best practices and policies, and sharing of lessons learnt.

iii) Promote collaboration and cooperation between different stakeholders and constituencies engaged in the advancement and implementation of sustainable urbanisation.

• Since its launch, the forum has helped the UN-Habitat to collect information on cases and trends and build partnerships and coalitions in order to support its work and find solutions to the global housing crisis and such major crises as climate change, conflicts and poverty.

Baku Call to Action 

The Baku Call to Action sets out a shared path forward, including:

i) Reframing housing as a system, linking homes with land, infrastructure, transport, services and economic opportunity rather than treating construction in isolation.

ii) Confronting interconnected pressures — from rising costs and land speculation to displacement, weak governance and climate shocks — through integrated, people-centred solutions.

iii) Recognising housing and climate justice as inseparable, with the most vulnerable communities facing the greatest exposure to floods, extreme heat and environmental risks.

iv) Scaling up climate-resilient housing, including through nature-based solutions, retrofitting, upgrading informal settlements and strengthening disaster preparedness.

v) Turning commitments into action, with stronger multilevel governance, expanded financing, better data and greater support for locally led, community-driven solutions.

• The next session, WUF14, will take place in Mexico in 2028.