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.
How can housing drive prosperity while delivering equity for all? This Dialogue Session will unfold as an immersive and interactive experience, with three main parts. First, a high-level 'fireside chat' between two ministers and the ED of UN-Habitat, setting the stage with an overview of the global housing context, highlighting convergences and divergences in different parts of the world in both social and economic terms. Second, a panel discussion will convene industry experts, prominent world mayors, heads of global CSOs, and high-profile academics to debate fresh challenges and the critical enabling factors required to overcome them, bridging global frameworks with concrete territorial realities. Third, the moderator will open the discussion to the floor with a crowd-sourced Mentimeter exercise whose real-time visual mapping will capture emerging insights and focus questions to the panelists, ensuring that all contributions are integrated into the conversation. Guiding questions 1. What are the biggest opportunities for housing to serve its role as an economic engine and social equalizer? 2. How can governments guide the impacts of market forces towards the realization of the right to adequate housing? 3. Which models of housing production and tenure have constituted the most secure economic and social multipliers? 4. What can the developing and developed worlds learn from one another's past lessons on inadequate housing e.g. sprawl and slums? Expected outcomes The event will foster a shared understanding of the complicities of how housing can be balanced as an economic engine and social equalizer. It will also facilitate the sharing of lessons between developing and developed world contexts, across social and economic returns. It will proide new insights and practical tools, fostering a collective commitment to enhancing housing systems and addressing socio-economic challenges in their communities. Policy insights from different countries will also inform global housing debates and action. Objectives Foster debate on balancing housing as an economic engine and a social equalizer Facilitate knowledge exchange between developing and developed contexts to generate actionable affordable housing strategies Promote multi-stakeholder collaboration and identify innovative solutions for community resilience
