The UN-Habitat is convening representatives from 182 countries at the World Urban Forum in Baku, Azerbaijan, as global housing challenges and climate pressures continue to escalate.
The conference, organized by UN-Habitat in collaboration with Azerbaijan, opened on Sunday, 17 May, and will run through Friday, 22 May. It brings together world leaders, mayors, urban planning experts, as well as representatives from governments, the private sector, civil society and international organizations.
The theme of the forum Housing the World: Safe and Resilient Cities and Communities serves as a call to action. According to the United Nations, nearly 2.8 billion people currently live in inadequate housing conditions, while more than 300 million people are without any home at all. With close to 70 per cent of the global population expected to live in urban areas by 2050, the crisis is projected to intensify significantly.
In an interview with UN Video, UN-Habitat Executive Director Anacláudia Rossbach described the situation as a “global housing crisis.”
“This crisis has long been most severe and structural in the Global South, but now it is also being felt in the Global North as well,” she said.
Rossbach noted that the rising cost of living has become a major contributing factor, compounded by international crises, including conflict in the Middle East and associated risks to global supply chains.
The United Nations emphasizes that the crisis extends far beyond physical housing. Adequate housing is increasingly recognized as fundamental to human dignity, urban resilience and global stability. Its effects ripple across multiple sectors, placing pressure on healthcare and education systems, weakening economies and straining social cohesion.
Francine Pickup, Deputy Director of the United Nations Development Programme and head of the agency’s delegation to the forum, highlighted the need for integrated solutions.
“This global housing crisis that we’re in is not primarily a construction problem,” she said. “We need to go beyond looking at building homes and houses and look at the urban setting and treat housing as a complex issue.”
A central theme of the forum is the importance of collective action, bringing together governments, local authorities, universities and grassroots communities.
“World Urban Forum is our biggest platform to bring together stakeholders,” Rossbach said. “We hope to see a strong and diverse community gathered in Baku and to emerge from this forum with a stronger global coalition to address the housing crisis.”
She added: “We cannot solve the global housing crisis alone. We need governments, local authorities, civil society, academia, communities and the private sector to work together.”
Kenya Showcases Affordable Housing Model
One of the key invitees to the forum is Kenyan President William Ruto, who used the platform to highlight Kenya’s Affordable Housing Programme as a leading model for sustainable urban development, inclusive growth and social transformation.
Addressing the 13th Session of the World Urban Forum at the Baku Convention Center, Ruto noted that by 2050, most urban growth will be concentrated in Africa and Asia, making affordable housing one of the defining priorities of our time.
He emphasized that meeting this demand requires reform of the international financial architecture to address financing inequalities affecting Africa and the Global South, even as African countries increasingly commit to financing their own development through stronger multilateral institutions and domestic resource mobilisation.
Ruto commended the people of Kenya for supporting the initiative through locally mobilised resources, particularly the Housing Levy, which has enabled efforts to address the challenges of rapid urbanisation.
“We commend the people of Kenya for demonstrating how locally mobilised resources through the Housing Levy can help address the challenges of rapid urbanisation,” he said, describing Kenya’s housing agenda as one of Africa’s most ambitious urban transformation initiatives.
He further highlighted the programme’s broader impact, including building climate-resilient communities, transforming informal settlements, creating jobs and supporting enterprise.
“Proud to share Kenya’s experience in building climate-resilient communities through affordable housing while transforming informal settlements, creating jobs, and supporting enterprise,” he said.
The Baku forum also marks a key political milestone, coinciding with the tenth anniversary of the New Urban Agenda. In July, the United Nations General Assembly in New York will conduct a midterm review of the Agenda, with discussions in Baku expected to help assess global progress toward more sustainable, safe and affordable cities.
Established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2001 and first held in Nairobi in 2002, the World Urban Forum takes place every two years and is widely regarded as the leading international conference on sustainable urbanization and the future of cities.
By 2050, most urban population growth is expected to occur in Africa and Asia, positioning affordable housing as one of the defining global challenges of the coming decades. Addressing this demand will require reforms to the international financial system to tackle inequalities affecting Africa and the Global South, alongside increased domestic resource mobilization and stronger regional institutions.
The forum in Baku has drawn approximately 40,000 participants from 182 countries, including governments, urban planners, researchers, civil society organizations and private sector representatives, all working to address the impacts of rapid urbanization on communities, economies, infrastructure and the climate.
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