ONE UN - Future urbanisation, how will your city change over the next decades (WUF13).

 The thirteenth session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) takes place in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 17 to 22 May 2026. The theme of WUF13 is: Housing the world: Safe and resilient cities and communities.

This event will present the new UN World Urbanization Prospects and the first ever projections of how each city in the globe will change in following decades. It will show the opportunities and challenges faced by cities in the global north and south. While some cities are growing rapidly which can lead to crowding and sub-standard housing, others are spreading out and losing population. Housing strategies need to take into account the changes in demand and urban expansion. This new and unique set of projections shows how cities are likely to grow or shrink in the future in terms of population, land and built-up area. This event will kick off with two presentations. The first is by Cheryl Sawyer from the UN Population Division showing how urbanisation has and will change globally. The second is by Lewis Dijkstra from the Joint Research Centre showing the trajectories of individual cities from 1950 to 2050. This is followed by a panel discussion with a professor Monika Kuffer, Robert Ndugwa from UN-Habitat and a representative from the Azerbaijan State Statistical Commission. This session will be moderated by Aziza Akhmouch from the OECD.

Facilitator: Aziza Akhmouch

Partners:
European Commission (Italy)
UN Population Division (United States of America)
UN-Habitat (Kenya)

Panelists:
Mr. Lewis Dijkstra, Team Leader, European Commission Joint Research Centre (Italy)
Ms. Cheryl Sawyer, Chief, Population Trends and Analysis Branch, Population Division of UN DESA (United States of America)
Ms. Monika Kuffer, Professor, University of Twente (Netherlands)
Mr. Robert Ndugwa, Head of Data and Analytics, UN-Habitat (Kenya)
Ms. Arzu Taghiyeva, Head of Sector, State Statistical Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan (Azerbaijan)

Location: Baku, Azerbaijan

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