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.
The session focuses on bridging the critical gap between National Urban Policy commitments and large-scale, measurable impact by integrating comprehensive housing diagnostics and strategic alignment into urban frameworks. Housing systems globally face unprecedented pressure from rapid urbanization, rising inequality, and deepening affordability crises. While National Housing Policies (NHPs) and National Urban Policies (NUPs) are increasingly adopted, a critical gap remains between policy commitments and large-scale, measurable impact. A primary cause of this gap is the limited use of comprehensive housing system diagnostics. Without these "upstream" insights, governments struggle to understand specific needs, costs, and delivery channels, often resulting in isolated supply measures that fail to respond to the reality of informal or incremental housing processes. Furthermore, weak alignment between national frameworks and key sectors such as land, finance, infrastructure, and rental markets undermines the coherence and effectiveness of housing systems. The session addresses these implementation challenges, which range from inadequate institutional coordination to financing constraints. Anchored in the New Urban Agenda and UN-Habitat's Strategic Plan 2026-2029, the event provides a platform to explore how housing can be better integrated into policy frameworks and translated into actionable, scalable solutions. By launching tools like the National Housing Policy Repository and leveraging Housing Profiles, the session will identify practical pathways to strengthen coordination and accelerate evidence-based delivery. Ultimately, the event aims to foster the partnerships and investment strategies required to transform housing policies into tangible results for inclusive and resilient communities. Partner: Spatial Agency of Georgia OECD Panelists: Moderator: Fiona McCluney, Chief of the Policy & Legislation Section (PLS) - UN-Habitat Keynote Speaker: Tadashi Matsumoto, Head of Sustainable Urban Development Unit at OECD Speakers/Discussants: Ms. Nihal ElMegharbel, Mr. Matthijs Van Oostrum Spatial Agency of Georgia
