The flag was lowered from the Baku Olympic Stadium later that Friday afternoon, marking the end of the biggest gathering of the World Urban Forum in its 25-year history. The number of events in WUF13 reached 579, including 260 Urban Expo exhibitors, while also hosting 11 heads of state, 88 ministers, 76 deputy ministers, and 130 mayors, with inclusion of more than 56.000 participants - the largest number recorded. These numbers in succession indeed represent a genuine accomplishment of an international gathering at a time when multilateralism seems to fail everywhere else. With the closing ceremony of WUF13 in Azerbaijan coming right after COP29, the world witnessed the launch of the Baku Call to Action and the handover of the WUF13 baton to Mexico City, the venue of WUF14. As with all previous WUFs, the lingering question now is whether it mattered.

The answer is yes, with qualifications that are important enough not to bury. UN-Habitat executive director Anacláudia Rossbach called the Baku Call to Action "the highlight of WUF13," saying that the discussions held in Baku made clear that housing must be at the centre of comprehensive urban policies related to land, infrastructure, climate action, financing, and governance. This perspective of viewing housing as part of an urban policy issue, as opposed to an isolated welfare issue, represents a significant progression from past forum declarations. This perspective, in addition to having real implications with regard to how countries set up their urban ministry departments, is a significant achievement in its own right. The Declaration on World Urbanization Prospects (also known as the Call to Action) is not an enforceable treaty. It is, however, the most proactive document that the World Urban Forum has produced to date.

What the Baku Call to Action says about the current state of affairs in housing finance is as important as its proposals. For instance, in stating that "housing finance systems remain fragmented, uncoordinated and inaccessible, with limited public investment, unequal access to credit and mechanisms that........

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