The thirteenth session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) takes place in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 17 to 22 May 2026. The theme of WUF13 is: Housing the world: Safe and resilient cities and communities.
This event will examine the key challenges and success factors for delivering affordable and sustainable housing in developing countries and countries with economies in transition. Through presentations by national and local leaders (Armenia, Brazil, Colombia, India, Kenya, Uzbekistan); UN agencies, and international organizations, the event will highlight how multilevel governance approaches—supported by UN-led programmes such as CHAMP and the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction's (GlobalABC) Zero Emission and Resilient Buildings (ZERB) Accelerator—are helping countries and cities put low-carbon and climate-resilient housing policies into practice, while maintaining housing supply and affordability. The event will also showcase strong partnerships between UNEP (including its role as lead of the GlobalABC and Cool Coalition secretariat), UN-Habitat, other UN agencies, and key partners such as the World Bank, World Resources Institute (WRI), C40 Cities, and the Under2 Coalition. Particular attention will be given to collaboration under the ZERB Accelerator and BeCool programme. Facilitator: Gulnara Roll Partners: UNEP - United Nations Environment Programme (France) UN-Habitat (Kenya) United Nations Economic Commission for Europe ECE (Switzerland) World Resource Institute (United States of America) Panelists: Ms. Lea Ranalder, Programme Officer, ClimateUN-Habitat (Kenya) Ms. Roxana Slavcheva, Built Environment Global Lead, World Resources Institute (United Kingdom) Mr. Javokhir Abdukhalikov, Deputy Head, National Committee on Ecology and Climate Change (Uzbekistan) Mr. Harpal Dave, Town Planner, Town Planning and Valuation Department Government of Gujarat (India)
