World Leaders Gather in Baku for the Largest-Ever UN World Forum on Cities

Nargis Shekinskaya

18 May 2026 Economic development

“Housing as a priority”

In his video message to the forum participants, the UN head emphasized that housing directly affects people’s health, education, and their future opportunities. “As the Secretary-General, I am proud thatPact in the name of the futureиDorian political declarationconsider housing as one of the priorities,” he added.

“Housing is a human right and the basis of human dignity,” emphasized Guterres, calling on forum participants to make affordable housing “a common reality.”

The Secretary-General also noted that the housing crisis is no longer limited to countries with low income levels. “No society is spared – from rapidly growing cities in the developing world to developed economies with high rents and rising homelessness,” he said.

“No simple solutions”

The President of the UN General Assembly, Annalena Baerbock, said in her video message that there are no simple solutions to the crisis. “Building more housing is necessary, but one alone is not enough,” she emphasized.

According to Berbok, it is a comprehensive approach that links housing issues with infrastructure, climate resilience, financing, and urban planning. She also noted that sustainable urban development is impossible without the participation of local communities, civil society, and the residents themselves.

Rapid urbanization

According to UN estimates, about 1.5 million people move to cities every week. By 2050, more than two-thirds of the world’s population will live in cities, and nearly 90 percent of this growth will occur in Africa and Asia. At the same time, informal settlements continue to expand – in developing countries, more than 30 percent of urban residents live in slums and areas without adequate infrastructure.

Forum participants discuss ways to solve these problems, including ensuring access to basic services, increasing resilience to climate shocks, and more effective urban management. Azerbaijan and Somalia are currently co-chairs of the UN-Habitat intergovernmental working group on the resolution “Adequate Housing for All.” The group coordinates the activities of member states and develops global recommendations aimed at ensuring safe, sustainable, and affordable housing worldwide.

Welcoming the forum participants on Monday, the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev called his country “a place where East meets West.” According to him, this concept of “old and new” is also reflected in Azerbaijani architecture. “By holding this global meeting today, we once again demonstrate our firm commitment to urban planning and the desire to make people’s lives better,” he added.

“Unprecedented level of interest”

The Executive Director of UN-Habitat Anaclaudia Rossbach calledunprecedented level of interest in the forum“Never before has a forum of this kind gathered such a huge and diverse global audience,” he said. “Despite the heavy rains and thunderstorms that affected part of Azerbaijan in recent days, we gathered here in Baku, full of determination and united by a common goal,” Rossb.

On May 17, a record amount of precipitation fell in Baku and on the Absheron Peninsula — 103 millimeters, which is equivalent to 523 percent of the average monthly norm for May. The heavy rain continued without interruption for nine hours. Due to the bad weather, the Summit of world leaders and some other events had to be moved from the Olympic Stadium to the Baku Congress Center.

Urban Expo

The opening of the largest urban expo city forum in history was also somewhat delayed. On Monday, the exhibition officially began its work. The exposition, covering an area of 3.5 hectares, united more than 217 organizations from 66 countries. Governments, universities, international organizations, private companies, and startups are presenting projects dedicated to affordable housing, digital technologies, climate resilience, and inclusive urban development.

UN-Habitat Pavilion: what is the meaning of the “spiral”?

The central place at the exhibition is occupied by the UN-Habitat pavilions, dedicated to the theme “Providing housing for the world.” The concept of the pavilions is built around the image of a spiral – a symbolInterconnections of people, nature, and cities.

In a conversation with the UN News Service, the head of communications at UN-Habitat, Ekaterina Bezgachina, explained that the idea of the pavilion arose from reflections on what “home” means to a person. “We started thinking about what home means to a person. And we understood that home is also our planet and our Universe,” she said.

The spiral is found everywhere in nature – from galaxies to the shell of a snail, which “always carries its home with it.” Visitors walk through several interconnected “spirals,” each dedicated to a separate theme. One of them tells about the global housing crisis and demonstrates existing solutions from around the world. “We did not want to show only the problems. We wanted to show that there are many solutions – people just don’t always know about them,” noted the UN-Habitat representative.

Another section traces the path from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 to the first conference dedicated to urbanization issues. It took place in Vancouver in 1976 and laid the foundation for the creation of UN-Habitat.