Hosted by UN-Habitat in partnership with the Government of Azerbaijan, the forum, which has attracted a record number of participants, officially opened today following Sunday’s ceremonial events, which included the first World Leaders Summit in the meeting’s history.
Housing is high on the global agenda
UN-Habitat officials describe the summit as an important step in elevating housing and urbanization to the highest political level.
Guterres stressed that housing directly affects people’s health, education and future opportunities.
“As Secretary-General, I am proud that the Pact for the Future and the Doha Political Declaration recognize housing as a priority,” he added, referring respectively to a landmark 2024 UN agreement aimed at strengthening global cooperation and safeguarding the needs of future generations, and the declaration adopted at last year’s World Social Summit, focused on promoting inclusive development.
“Housing is a human right and fundamental to human dignity,” Guterres emphasized, calling on participants to make affordable housing a “shared reality.”
The Secretary-General also warned that the crisis is no longer limited to low-income countries. “No society is immune, from fast-growing cities in the developing world to advanced economies with high rents and rising homelessness,” he said.
There are no simple solutions to a global crisis
The president of the UN General Assembly, Annalena Baerbock, stated in another video message that there are no simple solutions.
“Building more houses is necessary, but by itself it will not be enough,” he stressed.
He called for a more comprehensive approach – one that links housing with infrastructure, climate resilience, financing and urban planning – and stressed that sustainable urban development is impossible without the participation of local communities, civil society and residents themselves.
Cities under pressure
According to UN estimates, around 1.5 million people move to cities every week. By 2050, more than two-thirds of the world’s population will live in urban areas, and almost 90 percent of that growth will be concentrated in Africa and Asia.
At the same time, informal settlements continue to expand: in developing countries, more than 30 percent of urban residents live in slums and neighborhoods that lack adequate infrastructure.
Participants have gathered at the forum to explore solutions to these and related challenges, including access to basic services, climate resilience and more effective urban governance.
Azerbaijan and Somalia currently serve as co-chairs of the UN-Habitat Intergovernmental Working Group on the “Adequate Housing for All” resolution for the period 2025-2026, coordinating the efforts of UN Member States and developing global recommendations on safe, sustainable and affordable housing.
Welcoming participants, President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan described his country as “the place where East meets West,” noting that this interplay between “old and new” is reflected in Azerbaijani architecture. “Today, by organizing this global meeting, we have demonstrated (once again) our strong commitment to urban planning and our agenda to improve people’s lives,” he added.
Record turnout amid extreme weather
UN-Habitat Executive Director Anacláudia Rossbach described the level of interest in the forum as unprecedented.
“Never before has a forum of this nature brought together such a broad and diverse global audience,” he said. “Despite the heavy rain and storms that have affected parts of Azerbaijan in recent days, we have come together here in Baku with resilience, determination and a shared sense of purpose,” Rossbach added.
On May 17, Baku and the Absheron Peninsula recorded a record 103 millimeters of rain (equivalent to 523 percent of the total monthly average for May), and heavy rain continued uninterrupted for nine hours.
Due to bad weather, the World Leaders Summit and several other events had to be moved from the Olympic Stadium to the Baku Congress Center. The opening of the largest Urban Exhibition in the history of the FUM was also delayed.
The exhibition, which occupies an area of 3.5 hectares, brings together more than 217 organizations from 66 countries. Governments, universities, international organizations, private companies and startups present projects focused on affordable housing, digital technologies, climate resilience and inclusive urban development.
Why so many spirals?
At the center of the Expo is the UN-Habitat pavilion, dedicated to the theme of WU13: Housing of the world. Its concept is based on the image of a spiral, a symbol of the interconnection of people, nature and cities.
Speaking to UN News, UN-Habitat Communications Chief Katerina Bezgachina explained that the idea arose from reflections on what “home” means to people.
“We started thinking about what home means to a human being. And we realized that home is also our planet and our universe,” he said.
The spiral appears throughout nature, from galaxies to the shell of a snail, which “always carries its home with it.”
Visitors move through a series of interconnected “spirals,” each dedicated to a different theme. One explores the global housing crisis and showcases solutions from around the world.
“We didn’t just want to show the problems. We wanted to show that there are many solutions, but people don’t always know them,” explained the UN-Habitat communications chief.
Another section traces the path from the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the first Habitat conference, held in Vancouver in 1976, after which UN-Habitat was created.
The pavilion’s design also echoes Baku’s modern skyline and its iconic landmarks: the Heydar Aliyev Center and the Flame Towers, the latter of which appear on the official WUF13 logo. Inside, a venue dedicated to UN-Habitat will host 17 thematic sessions from May 19 to 22.
UN News is in Baku covering the Summit throughout the week. Stay here.