His video tackle set the tone for the 13th session of the World City Discussion board (WUF13), which comes at a essential second as cities grapple with deepening inequalities, fast urbanisation and a rising local weather disaster.
Organised by UN‑Habitat in partnership with the Authorities of Azerbaijan, the discussion board, which has drawin a report variety of members, formally opened in the present day following Sunday’s ceremonial occasions, which included the first-ever World Leaders Summit within the historical past of the gathering.
Housing rises up the worldwide agenda
UN‑Habitat officers describe the summit as a serious step in elevating housing and urbanisation to the very best political degree.
Mr. Guterres confused that housing instantly impacts individuals’s well being, training and future alternatives.
“As Secretary-Normal, I’m proud that the Pact for the Future and the Doha Political Declaration acknowledge housing as a precedence,” he added, referring respectively to a landmark 2024 UN settlement aimed toward strengthening world cooperation and safeguarding the wants of future generations, and the declaration adopted eventually yr’s World Social Summit, targeted on advancing inclusive improvement.
“Housing is a human proper, and elementary for human dignity,” Mr. Guterres emphasised, calling on members to make inexpensive housing a “shared actuality.”
The Secretary‑Normal additionally warned that the disaster is now not confined to low‑revenue nations. “No society is immune, from quick‑rising cities within the growing world, to superior economies with excessive rents and rising homelessness,” he mentioned.
No easy fixes for a world disaster
President of the UN Normal Meeting Annalena Baerbock mentioned in a separate video message that there aren’t any simple options.
“Constructing extra homes is important, nevertheless it is not going to be sufficient by itself,” she confused.
She referred to as for a extra complete method – one which hyperlinks housing with infrastructure, local weather resilience, financing and concrete planning – and underlined that sustainable city improvement is not possible with out the participation of native communities, civil society and residents themselves.
Cities beneath strain
In response to UN estimates, round 1.5 million individuals transfer into cities each week. By 2050, greater than two‑thirds of the world’s inhabitants might be residing in city areas, with practically 90 per cent of that progress concentrated in Africa and Asia.
On the similar time, casual settlements are persevering with to broaden: in growing nations, greater than 30 per cent of city residents stay in slums and neighbourhoods missing satisfactory infrastructure.
Individuals have gathered on the discussion board to discover options to those and associated challenges, together with entry to fundamental companies, local weather resilience and simpler city governance.
Azerbaijan and Somalia presently function co‑chairs of the UN‑Habitat Intergovernmental Working Group on the decision ‘Satisfactory Housing for All’ for the 2025–2026 time period, coordinating UN Member States’ efforts and growing world suggestions on secure, sustainable and inexpensive housing.
Welcoming members, President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan described his nation as “the place the place East meets West”, noting that this interaction of “previous and new” is mirrored in Azerbaijani structure. “In the present day, organizing this world gathering, we [have again] demonstrated our sturdy dedication to city planning and our agenda to make lifetime of the individuals higher”, he added.
Document turnout amid excessive climate
Govt Director of UN‑Habitat Anacláudia Rossbach described the extent of curiosity within the discussion board as unprecedented.
“By no means earlier than has a discussion board of this nature introduced collectively such an unlimited and various world viewers,” she mentioned. “Regardless of the extraordinary rainfall and thunderstorms which have affected components of Azerbaijan in latest days, we now have come collectively right here in Baku with resilience, willpower and a shared sense of function,” Rossbach added.
On 17 Could, Baku and the Absheron Peninsula recorded a historic 103 millimetres of rainfall – equal to 523 per cent of the common month-to-month complete for Could – with heavy rain persevering with uninterrupted for 9 hours.
Because of the extreme climate, the World Leaders Summit and a number of other different occasions needed to be moved from the Olympic Stadium to the Baku Congress Middle. The opening of the biggest City Expo in WUF historical past was additionally delayed.
Spanning 3.5 hectares, the exhibition brings collectively greater than 217 organisations from 66 nations. Governments, universities, worldwide organisations, non-public firms and startups are presenting initiatives targeted on inexpensive housing, digital applied sciences, local weather resilience and inclusive city improvement.
The UN-Habitat Pavilion in Baku: guests transfer by means of a number of interconnected “spirals,” every dedicated to a special theme.
Why so many spirals?
On the centre of the Expo stands the UN‑Habitat pavilion, devoted to the WUF13 theme: Housing the World. Its idea is constructed across the picture of a spiral – an emblem of the interconnectedness of individuals, nature and cities.
Talking to UN Information, UN‑Habitat Chief of Communications Katerina Bezgachina defined that the concept emerged from reflections on what “house” means to individuals.
“We began enthusiastic about what house means for a human being. And we realized that house can be our planet and our universe,” she mentioned.
The spiral seems all through nature – from galaxies to the shell of a snail, which “all the time carries its house with it”.
Guests transfer by means of a collection of interconnected “spirals”, every dedicated to a special theme. One explores the worldwide housing disaster, whereas showcasing options from world wide.
“We didn’t wish to present solely issues. We needed to point out that there are lots of options – individuals simply don’t all the time find out about them,” the UN‑Habitat communications chief defined.
One other part traces the trail from the 1948 Common Declaration of Human Rights to the primary Habitat convention, held in Vancouver in 1976, after which UN‑Habitat was established.
The pavilion’s design additionally echoes the fashionable skyline of Baku and its iconic landmarks – the Heydar Aliyev Middle and the Flame Towers, the latter featured on the official WUF13 brand. Inside, a devoted UN‑Habitat Enviornment will host 17 thematic periods from 19 to 22 Could.
UN Information is in Baku overlaying the Summit all through the week. Observe alongside right here.
