Themes
WUF13 focuses on the global housing crisis, positioning adequate housing as a human right and a cornerstone of safe, resilient, and inclusive cities. Under the theme “Housing the World: Safe and Resilient Cities and Communities,” the Forum will examine how housing intersects with climate change, social equity, economic development, and crisis recovery.
It will bring together governments, local authorities, civil society, academia, and the private sector to exchange solutions, policies, and best practices. Through high-level dialogues and diverse stakeholder-led events, WUF13 aims to accelerate collective action toward sustainable urbanization and the achievement of SDG 11.
The 6 Dialogues of WUF13 address the critical dimensions of the global housing crisis:
- Dialogue 1: The global housing crisis: what is the plan?
The dialogue will look at how governments, the private sector, non-profits and communities are responding, with efforts to upgrade existing neighbourhoods and expand adequate, affordable and well-located housing solutions. It will highlight successful initiatives and investigate what it takes to shape housing systems that are inclusive, resilient and fit for the cities of tomorrow. - Dialogue 2: Transforming informal settlements and slums
The dialogue will examine how cities can shift from penalizing informal housing to recognizing and leveraging informality as part of the urban fabric, and how higher quality and accessible services and infrastructure, as well as tenure security, can be expanded. - Dialogue 3: Housing at the centre of crisis recovery and reconstruction
The dialogue will explore how we can redefine reconstruction after a crisis to put access to adequate housing and land at the centre of the conversation, and how cities can embed the challenges created by displacement into their planning and housing policies. - Dialogue 4: The climate-housing nexus
With local governments already delivering practical solutions, this dialogue will ask, among other questions: how can we scale what is working and ensure that decarbonization and housing resilience do not increase evictions or deepen exclusion? - Dialogue 5: The social and economic power of housing
The dialogue will include discussions on how to reconcile the dual role of housing as a driver of economic growth and prosperity, while simultaneously ensuring social rights and benefits across geographies, populations and economies, and the role local government could play in realizing this objective. - Dialogue 6: A new deal for housing finance
This dialogue will discuss what a new deal in housing finance that is inclusive, sustainable and responsive to diverse needs could look like.