World Urban Forum

The World Urban Forum (WUF) is the world’s premier conference on urban issues. It was established in 2001 by the United Nations to examine one of the most pressing issues facing the world today: rapid urbanisation and its impact on communities, cities, economies, climate change and policies.

The World Urban Forum is organised and run by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT).^[1]

History

The first World Urban Forum was held in Nairobi, Kenya in 2002 and has been held around the world ever since.

The forum has the following as its objectives:

Raise awareness of sustainable urbanisation among stakeholders and constituencies, including the general public.
Improve the collective knowledge of sustainable urban development through inclusive open debates, sharing of lessons learned and the exchange of best practices and good policies.
Increase coordination and cooperation between different stakeholders and constituencies for the advancement and implementation of sustainable urbanisation.

Conferences

Edition	Year	Host City	Date	Theme	Ref.
I	2002	Nairobi, Kenya	29 April – 3 May	Sustainable Urbanization	^[2]
II	2004	Barcelona, Spain	13–17 September	Cities: Crossroads of Cultures, Inclusiveness, and Integration	^[3]
III	2006	Vancouver, Canada	19–23 June	Sustainable Urbanization and Inclusive Cities	^[4]
IV	2008	Nanjing, China	3–6 November	Harmonious Urbanization	^[5]
V	2010	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	22–26 March	The Right to the City: Bridging the Urban Divide	^[6]
VI	2012	Naples, Italy	1–7 September	The Urban Future	^[7]
VII	2014	Medellín, Colombia	5–11 April	Urban Equity in Development – Cities for Life	^[8]
IX^[a]	2018	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	7–13 February	Cities 2030, Cities for All: Implementing the New Urban Agenda	^[9]
X	2020	Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	8–13 February	Cities of Opportunities: Connecting Culture and Innovation	^[10]
XI	2022	Katowice, Poland	26–30 June	Transforming Our Cities for a Better Urban Future	^[11]
XII	2024	Cairo, Egypt	4–8 November	It All Starts at Home: Local Actions for Sustainable Cities and Communities	^[12]^[13]
XIII	2026	Baku, Azerbaijan	17–22 May	Housing the World: Safe and Resilient Cities and Communities	^[14]^[15]
XIV	2028	Mexico City, Mexico			^[16]

^ The eighth (VIII) edition in 2016 was replaced with the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development in Quito, Ecuador to adopt the New Urban Agenda.^[1]

Controversies

In 2023, the World Urban Forum faced criticism from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine for inviting the occupation authorities of Crimea to participate in a session. Ukrainian officials argued that the invitation could be perceived as an attempt to legitimize Russia's temporary occupation of Ukrainian territories.^[17]

References

^ ^a ^b "World Urban Forum".
^ "WUF1 - Nairobi". Retrieved 21 May 2026.
^ "WUF2 - Barcelona". Retrieved 21 May 2026.
^ "WUF3 - Vancouver". Retrieved 21 May 2026.
^ "WUF4 - Nanjing". Retrieved 21 May 2026.
^ "WUF5 - Rio de Janeiro". Retrieved 21 May 2026.
^ "WUF6 - Naples". Retrieved 21 May 2026.
^ "WUF7 - Medellín". Retrieved 21 May 2026.
^ "WUF9 - Kuala Lumpur". Retrieved 21 May 2026.
^ "WUF10 - Abu Dhabi". Retrieved 21 May 2026.
^ "WUF11 - Katowice". Retrieved 21 May 2026.
^ "WUF12 - Cairo". Retrieved 21 May 2026.
^ Bank, Asian Development (4 November 2024). "World Urban Forum 2024". Asian Development Bank. Retrieved 18 May 2026.
^ "WUF13 - Baku". Retrieved 21 May 2026.
^ Şeko, Ada (26 March 2026). "UN-Habitat chief calls for participation in World Urban Forum for sustainable cities". Anadolu Agency. Retrieved 1 April 2026.
^ "Mexico City wins bid to host World Urban Forum in 2028". UN-HABITAT. Retrieved 21 May 2026.
^ "Ukraine's Foreign Ministry responds to Crimea's participation in World Urban Forum".

External links

World Urban Forum – official website

[9] The eighth (VIII) edition in 2016 was replaced with the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development in Quito, Ecuador to adopt the New Urban Agenda.^[1]

[unhabitat.org/wuf-1] "World Urban Forum".

[2] "WUF1 - Nairobi". Retrieved 21 May 2026.

[3] "WUF2 - Barcelona". Retrieved 21 May 2026.

[4] "WUF3 - Vancouver". Retrieved 21 May 2026.

[5] "WUF4 - Nanjing". Retrieved 21 May 2026.

[6] "WUF5 - Rio de Janeiro". Retrieved 21 May 2026.

[7] "WUF6 - Naples". Retrieved 21 May 2026.

[8] "WUF7 - Medellín". Retrieved 21 May 2026.

[10] "WUF9 - Kuala Lumpur". Retrieved 21 May 2026.

[11] "WUF10 - Abu Dhabi". Retrieved 21 May 2026.

[12] "WUF11 - Katowice". Retrieved 21 May 2026.

[13] "WUF12 - Cairo". Retrieved 21 May 2026.

[14] Bank, Asian Development (4 November 2024). "World Urban Forum 2024". Asian Development Bank. Retrieved 18 May 2026.

[15] "WUF13 - Baku". Retrieved 21 May 2026.

[16] Şeko, Ada (26 March 2026). "UN-Habitat chief calls for participation in World Urban Forum for sustainable cities". Anadolu Agency. Retrieved 1 April 2026.

[17] "Mexico City wins bid to host World Urban Forum in 2028". UN-HABITAT. Retrieved 21 May 2026.

[msn.com-18] "Ukraine's Foreign Ministry responds to Crimea's participation in World Urban Forum".

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