A critical moment to centre housing for inclusive and resilient cities

The WUF13 takes place at a time of great urgency. Since the forum's last edition in Cairo two years ago, multiple global crises have accelerated, with profoundly urban consequences. Wars have created mass destruction of housing and civilian infrastructure in Gaza, Lebanon, Myanmar, Sudan and Ukraine, and other regions, at unprecedented scales. In Gaza, 92% of homes have been destroyed or severely damaged, resulting in the emergent framework of "urbicide” to analyse the systematic erasure of the built environment and the social life it sustains as a key tool of settler-colonial governance. The ongoing USA-Israel aggression of Iran and Lebanon has plunged the world into an acute, global energy crisis. Whether it is blue collar workers at the petrol station in car-centric American suburbs, Keke Napep drivers in Nigerian informal settlements, or migrant workers in the kitchens of South Asian mega-cities, it is the poorest and most vulnerable among us that are the first to suffer. 

A world in a flux

Across the world, overlapping socio-economic, and environmental crises have simultaneously found expression in waves of youth‑led protests. From movements in Nepal demanding political accountability, to demonstrations in Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, or Spain sparked by economic pressure, housing unaffordability, climate stress, and inequality, our cities’ streets are signaling a shared global reckoning, driven by rising living costs, shrinking opportunity, worsening climate impacts, and a sense that institutions are moving too slowly. 

Meanwhile, cities continue to be on the frontlines of climate disasters. Climate impacts are felt disproportionately in urban communities, with the most economically and socially marginalised, especially the approximately 1 billion people living in informal settlements, feeling the largest effects. Many informal settlements are ill-prepared for climate change, facing particularly high risks of floods and landslides due to poor-quality buildings and a lack of infrastructure to prevent flooding, withstand heavy storms, and cope with heat waves. 

In 2025, wildfires in Los Angeles resulted in the destruction of close to 15 000 homes, with property damages estimated between $28.0 billion and $53.8 billion. In Mozambique, floods affecting Southern Africa in 2025 resulted in loss of life, destruction of over 70,000 homes, damage to health facilities and schools, and large-scale disruption of roads. Extreme weather events also led to intensive flooding and disruption to city life worldwide, from Morocco to Indonesia. Heat is a constant threat, with recent analysis examining how 1.5°C and 3°C of global warming could reshape life in roughly 1,000 of the world’s largest cities predicting more frequent and prolonged heat waves, surging energy demand for cooling, and expanded enabling conditions for the spread of insect‑borne diseases. 

Living through an inherently urban century

The WUF13 takes place in a more urban world than ever before. Since the last edition, UNDESA have released their "World Urbanization Prospects", an important update of urban trends and figures globally that underscore that we are living through an inherently urban century. Today, cities are home to 45% of the world’s 8.2 billion people, more than double their share in 1950, and nearly all global population growth between now and 2050 will be absorbed by cities and towns. While megacities capture headlines, they tell only part of the story: 96% of the world’s 12,000 cities have fewer than one million residents, and many of the fastest growing are small and midsized cities in Africa and Asia. Often stretched thin on planning capacity and basic services, these places are at the forefront of rapid urbanisation, where the consequences of growth, and climate stress, will be felt most sharply.

The global housing crisis is felt across regions and reflects deep structural failures in how housing systems are planned, finance, and governed. Rising housing costs, stagnant incomes, and chronic underinvestment have pushed millions out of adequate housing, undermining social cohesion and economic stability. In both advanced and emerging markets, shortages of affordable, well-located homes exist alongside speculative investment and vacant properties, exposing systemic imbalances in land and housing markets. Compounding these pressures, new development continues to sprawl to city peripheries without adequate infrastructure or services, reinforcing spatial inequality and threatening the sustainability of urban growth.

Local actions

The WUF13 lays at the starting line of a particularly important chain of international events with high urban relevance. Innnovate4Cities will take place in June in Nairobi, linking scientific insight, innovation, and implementation at the city level, and providing a space to review the forthcoming IPCC Special Report on Cities. This will be followed by the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) New York in July, taking stock of progress notably towards SDG 11 and identifying solutions that could accelerate progress toward the goal of making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable by 2030. This year also marks a rare and consequential moment for global environmental action, as all three Rio Conventions, tackling the interconnected crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and land degradation, will convene their COPs between August and November. The climate talks (COP31) in Antalya, Türkiye, the biodiversity summit (COP17) in Yerevan, Armenia, and the desertification COP (COP17) in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, come at a time when implementation is the central challenge. 

Implementation of these Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) increasingly depends on action taken at the local and regional levels. Urban areas today consume two thirds of energy and generate more than 70% of global CO2 emissions. By 2030, 40% of strictly protected areas are expected to lie within 50km of a city. Meanwhile, land degradation affects nearly 40% of the world’s land area and directly impacts 3.2 billion people in both rural and urban settings.

Working together towards a just and resilient future

Over the past year, IHS has been working in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme to assess how Local and Regional Governments (LRG) have historically engaged in global environmental governance. Our analysis, which will be launched during WUF13 in the form of a white paper, demonstrates significant added value to LRG engagement in accelerating the MEA goals, highlighting key entry points through which they have influenced global agendas, identifying persistent structural and institutional barriers, and proposing actionable recommendations to enhance effective multi-level governance. Empowering local action within MEAs is not simply beneficial; it is essential for delivering global environmental commitments. 

At WUF13, solutions on the ground to deliver adequate, resilient housing that yield several environmental, economic, social and health co-benefits will be a key part of this implementation toolbox. IHS's delegation, alongside diverse partners, will present a wide range of research throughout the conference, from inclusive slum upgrading, to heat‑resilient and low‑carbon design, multi‑level governance, and capacity building that connects global commitments, national housing policies, and local institutions. We look forward to working together to collectively shape a more just and sustainable future, with housing that supports human flourishing at its core.

(Written by Lucas Snaije)