13th World Urban Forum: multilevel cooperation for sustainable urbanization

WUF13, the Thirteenth Session of the World Urban Forum, to be held from 17 to 22 May in Baku, Azerbaijan, will bring together thousands of participants from around the world, including representatives of governments, cities, regions, international organizations, civil society, academia and the private sector. As one of the leading global gatherings dedicated to sustainable urbanization, WUF offers an important platform to exchange experiences, strengthen multilevel cooperation and advance practical solutions for the future of cities. We hope there will be a strong presence of city and regional delegations and encourage all participants to make full use of the rich programme of events and discussions throughout the Forum.

The Global Cities Hub will actively support its partners during the Forum across several key thematic areas.

Together with UN-Habitat, the Global Cities Hub will contribute to the “Pulse of Healthy Homes” events, directly linked to our broader cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO) on healthy and resilient cities.

“Pulse of Healthy Homes” reframes housing as a fundamental driver of health, dignity and urban resilience. Drawing on the WHO–UN-Habitat Housing and Health agenda, the session will explore how housing conditions and access to essential services shape physical and mental well-being, social cohesion and climate resilience. Through high-level dialogue involving high-level officials, city leaders, public health experts and grassroots actors, participants will discuss practical solutions ranging from community-led upgrading in informal settlements to innovative financing, digital tools and ecosystem-based approaches connecting housing, health and climate resilience.

The Global Cities Hub will focus on the international processes that are relevant for and inclusive of local and regional governments and advance the healthy homes agenda. It will highlight the importance of multilevel governance, policy coherence and innovative financing mechanisms, while stressing that cities often lack the governance frameworks and technical capacity needed to implement healthy housing policies at scale.

Particular attention will also be given to the increasing role of cities within multilateral processes. In this context, the outcomes of the 2025 United Nations Forum of Mayors in Geneva will be highlighted, especially recommendations recognizing housing as a human right, promoting equitable and climate-resilient housing policies, and calling for stronger inclusion of local and regional governments in global governance discussions. The Global Cities Hub will also underline the importance of emerging tools such as digital twins and human-centered AI for evidence-based urban planning and healthier housing systems.

In connection with these discussions, we will also highlight the event “Climate change, health and cities – From global commitments to local impact”. This hybrid event, taking place in Geneva on 20 May (18:00-19:15 CEST), will further reinforce international dialogue on healthy and resilient cities.

With our partners at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), we will continue advancing discussions on AI and smart cities as an important follow-up to the Third UN World Virtual Worlds Day and Citiverse Assembly, where the Global Cities Hub played an active role. We warmly welcome the outcomes of this important event and look forward to continuing work on digital urban governance, human-centered AI and innovative urban technologies.

We will contribute to the rapidly expanding discussion on the localisation of Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The Global Cities Hub will provide substantive contributions and moderate a panel featuring representatives from Gaziantep (Turkyie) and Ambassador Antonio Da Costa of Brazil.

In addition, the Global Cities Hub will support several partner-led discussions on pressing urban challenges, including urban security, #BeatTheHeatinitiatives and other critical issues shaping the global urban agenda.

We are looking forward to an inspiring and action-oriented Forum. We encourage all participants to consult the programme closely, engage actively in the discussions and follow the outcomes of WUF13.