Iotova to Attend 13th World Urban Forum Leaders' Summit in Baku as 40,000 Gather
Updated
Updated · БТА · May 16
Iotova to Attend 13th World Urban Forum Leaders' Summit in Baku as 40,000 Gather
7 articles · Updated · БТА · May 16
Iliana Iotova will travel to Baku on May 17-18 to represent Bulgaria at the first Leaders' Summit held alongside the 13th World Urban Forum.
Azerbaijan's Ilham Aliyev invited her; Iotova is due to meet him on Sunday and address the summit on Monday.
The forum's theme is "Housing the World: Safe and Sustainable Cities and Communities," with Bulgaria also sending Veliko Tarnovo Mayor Daniel Panov and other local-authority representatives.
WUF13 runs through May 22 and has drawn more than 40,000 participants from 182 countries as UN-Habitat spotlights a global housing shortfall affecting about 3 billion people.
Can post-conflict 'smart city' rebuilding become a global blueprint for sustainable and equitable urban development?
Beyond zoning reforms, what financing models can break the cycle of housing scarcity and subsidy dependence in major global cities?
As cities use AI for urban planning, how can they prevent displacing the communities these smart solutions are meant to help?
Safe and Resilient Cities for 3 Billion: WUF13’s Global Call to Solve the Housing Crisis
Overview
The World Urban Forum 13 (WUF13) in Baku brings together global leaders and experts to urgently address the future of cities, with a strong focus on the global housing crisis. This crisis is not just about building homes—it deeply affects human dignity, urban resilience, and the stability of societies. Its impacts stretch across essential services like healthcare and education, and even weaken economies. WUF13 aims to find integrated solutions by uniting diverse stakeholders, highlighting that solving the housing crisis requires more than construction; it demands holistic, collaborative action for safe and resilient communities worldwide.