What it is
The World Urban Forum (WUF) is UN-Habitat’s conference on sustainable urbanisation. The United Nations established it in 2001, the first session was held in Nairobi in 2002, and it has moved around the world since. UN DESA describes it as the largest UN non-legislative event on sustainable urbanisation: it adopts no binding text and works as a meeting place for national and local governments, international organisations, business, researchers and civil society. Recent sessions have come every two years: WUF12 in Cairo from 4 to 8 November 2024, WUF13 in Baku from 17 to 22 May 2026.
How the programme works
Each session has one theme. WUF12, the first held in a megacity and the first in Africa in over 20 years, took “It All Starts at Home: Local Actions for Sustainable Cities and Communities”. WUF13 was about the global housing crisis; the UNITAC announcement notes that nearly 3 billion people live in inadequate housing. According to UN-Habitat’s closing press release, the week opened with assemblies of women, youth, grassroots groups, business and local and regional governments, followed by high-level dialogues, partner-led events and an Urban Expo.
Who goes and how to take part
UN bodies present the forum as open to everyone, from government leaders to planners, developers and students. WUF13 was co-organised with the Government of Azerbaijan and, by UN-Habitat’s count, brought together over 57,000 participants from 176 countries, including over 3,000 online. It hosted 579 sessions and 260 exhibitors, and featured 11 heads of state and 130 mayors. Participants from Asia made up over 90 per cent of visitors. We could not read the official site, wuf.unhabitat.org, which blocked our checks, so we have not confirmed registration rules or fees.
What came out of the last edition
WUF13 closed with the Baku Call to Action, a stakeholder-led document calling for renewed political commitment to adequate housing through people-centred, inclusive and climate-resilient approaches. UN-Habitat also launched its World Cities Report during the forum. Neither is binding. UN-Habitat’s Executive Director, Anacláudia Rossbach, placed the forum at the midpoint of the New Urban Agenda and said the next decade must be about implementation.
Why it matters for cities
UN-Habitat calls it the world’s leading global platform on sustainable urbanisation and housing. With housing as the 2026 subject, the Call to Action and the World Cities Report are practical reference documents for city housing policy.
Going, or following from home
UN-Habitat says Mexico will host WUF14 in 2028; we could not find the city or dates. In 2024, sessions were livestreamed in the WUF app for registered attendees.