There is a figure that has characterized every discussion held so far during the current week's World Urban Forum in Baku, and it is worth stating upfront because it should serve as a wake-up call before anything else: three billion. This refers to the number of individuals in the world living in poor housing: either expensive, unsafe, or non-existent.

More than one billion live in informal settlements and slums, while more than three hundred million live as homeless. These are facts taken from the World Cities Report 2026, released during the ongoing World Urban Forum for the first time on its third day. The sad reality is that these statistics do not reflect a situation expected in the future but something happening at the moment, worsened by such global challenges as climate change, conflicts, and rapid urbanization which surpasses any sanitation, transportation and education infrastructure development efforts of governments. As WUF13 draws to a close tomorrow in the Baku Olympic Stadium, it has spent the past five days working towards turning the figures into commitments.

More than 45,000 registered participants from 180 countries, the largest attendance in WUF history. And the inclusion, for the first time in WUF's history, of a Leaders' Summit segment, reflects Azerbaijan's ambition to elevate the forum from a technical conference into a genuine geopolitical platform.

Now, let us go day-by-day on what has happened.

Pre-Forum Day, 17th of May

Ministerial Meeting on the New Urban Agenda five stakeholder Assemblies

Government ministers gathered to assess progress on the New Urban Agenda at its midpoint, ten years after Quito, ten years before the agenda's 2036 end date. The session, chaired by Azerbaijan, was designed to feed directly into the UN Secretary-General's 2026 midterm review report. Five dedicated stakeholder Assemblies, covering women, civil society, local and regional governments, youth, and the private sector, ran simultaneously, ensuring that the ministerial commitments made upstairs were at least interrogated from below. A flag-raising ceremony for the UN and Azerbaijani flags marked the formal opening. Anar Guliyev, the WUF13 national coordinator, announced the creation of a new Baku Urban Award to recognise innovation in urban planning at future WUF editions.

Monday 18 May - Day 1

Opening WUF13 were President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and the Executive Director of UN-Habitat, Anacláudia Rossbach, at a forum which attracted many Heads of State and delegations. According to President Aliyev, the forum was “the second biggest international event ever hosted by Azerbaijan after COP29.” This comparison was........

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