ISOCARP at the World Urban Forum (WUF13)

WUF13: Training Session on Capacity Development - Planning for Safe and Resilient Cities & Communities 

🗓️ Date & Time: May 21, 2026 | 09:30-11:30 AZT
📍 Location: Multipurpose Room 04

Our Society proudly led a training session at WUF13 under the patronage of Habitat Professionals Forum (HPF) on capacity development on sustainable urban futures. Making plans for capacity development requires assessing current skills and resources against future needs, identifying gaps, and creating a strategic plan with clear actions, budgets, and responsibilities. At this training session we equipped the participants with practical tools and insights to identify capacity gaps, co-developed strategic responses, and strengthened competencies needed to drive sustainable and resilient urban development in their own contexts.

Housing Performance Assessment (HPA): From Monitoring to Strategising Safe, Affordable, and Sustainable Communities 

🗓️ Date & Time: May 19, 2026 | 09:30-11:30 AZT
📍 Location: Multipurpose Room 05

Housing Performance Assessment approach helps cities move from fragmented housing efforts to more coordinated and effective solutions. This training session delved into how the outcomes of HPA’s complementary phases address challenges like inequality, affordability, and resilience. Through a mix of short inputs and hands-on exercises, participants explored key indicators and created their own Housing Platform Canvas tailored to their context. The balanced format of short technical inputs with peer exchange and applied work supplied attendees with concrete tools and ideas to strengthen housing planning to help make a real impact in their cities.  

Cities for Children and Youth: Resources to Transform Cities and Slums 

🗓️ Date & Time: May 19, 2026 | 12:00-13:00 AZT 
📍 Location: Urban Library – Room A

This event, hosted by Save the Children and Cities4Children, focused on creating an equitable urban development that improves urban life for children and youth, especially in marginalised and informal settlements. Panel discussions and presentations featuring alliance members and experts specifically addressed the transformations of urban slums into inclusive, child-friendly cities, with the aim to inspire action by fostering stronger collaboration among practitioners, activists, and local governments.  

Housing for All Ages: Planning Intergenerational Cities through Inclusive Housing Systems 

🗓️ Date & Time: May 19, 2026 | 16:00-17:00 AZT 
📍 Location: SDGs in Action – Room C

WUF13 presented an opportunity to explore urban dimensions of the 168 targets in the Sustainable Development Goals. Our session positioned intergenerational housing and planning as a practical, inclusive strategy for building resilient and liveable cities, where social infrastructure supports wellbeing and participation across the life course. By showcasing applied examples from cities and communities working with children, youth, families, and older people, this event demonstrated how inclusive housing systems can contribute to the achievement of SDGs, particularly SDG11 on sustainable cities and communities.  

The Global Planners Network: Delivering Planning-Led Solutions for Resilient, Safe and Inclusive Cities & Communities 

🗓️ Date & Time: May 20, 2026 | 14:00-15:30 AZT
📍 Location: Multipurpose Room 08

The GPN and its member organisations are committed to advance dialogue on planning and the vital role of planners in solving global housing challenges and promote healthy, inclusive, safe, and resilient cities and communities. By establishing the foundation for future partnerships and relationships amongst fellow urbanisation thought-leaders, prominent activists, investors, and global leaders, we helped raise awareness around planning and its role, as well as expand the network reach to stimulate further mobilisation.  

Towards an International Landscape Convention: The Foundation for Housing 

🗓️ Date & Time: May 20, 2026 | 16:00-17:30 AZT
📍 Location: Multipurpose Room 06

To “House the World” we must rely on the landscape for everything, from clean air, soil, water, biodiversity, to identity and culture. The International Landscape Convention provides the necessary framework to recognise the landscape as a crucial infrastructure upon which housing and community resilience are dependent on. ISOCARP’s delegation proudly supported IFLA, UN-Habitat, UNEP, and WHO in their mission to explore how ILC integrates housing, climate, and health mandates into a single holistic framework that underpins territorial management and transformation.  

Urban Practices in Crisis Response and Post-Disaster Reconstruction 

🗓️ Date & Time: May 21, 2026 | 12:00-13:30 AZT
📍 Location: Multipurpose Room 13

This networking event responded directly to WUF’s Dialogue 3 that set the agenda for policy and action on “Housing at the Centre of Crisis Recovery and Reconstruction”. When disasters, such as earthquakes and floods, destroy homes and uproot communities, structured planning framework, technical tools, and implementation pathways are crucial for guiding recovery efforts and strengthening long-term urban sustainability. We fostered a conversation that highlights practical strategies for integrating housing into resilient recovery frameworks and supports the localisation of the New Urban Agenda and SDG 11, advancing safe urban development against the backdrop of increasing global risks. 

Building a Global Network for Climate-Resilient Housing 

🗓️ Date & Time: May 21, 2026 | 14:00-15:30 AZT 
📍 Location: Multipurpose Room 03

This networking event focused on the climate-housing nexus, positioning planning systems as a bridge between climate action and resilient, inclusive housing delivery. We convened planners, climate practitioners, housing experts, policymakers, and professional networks to build a global community of practice that focuses on embedding climate risk into housing and land-use planning decisions. Discussions related to applied approaches focused on real-world implementation across diverse contexts, with particular attention to low- and middle- income countries. 

Visit us at the Urban Expo Booth!

ISOCARP is proud to have collaborated with leading global planning organisations at the Urban Expo booth under the Global Planning Network (GPN). Together with Royal Town Planning Institute, Global Planning Education Association Network, Istituto Nazionale di Urbanistica, Commonwealth Association of Planners, City Space Architecture, and American Planning Association, we showcased the transformative power of planning to shape sustainable urban futures. We would like to thank all WUF attendees who stopped by to participate in different events planned by all partners and engaged with professionals from across the world. This shared space successfully highlighted how planners around the world are driving meaningful change through innovative practices. 

Let’s continue making a lasting impact together and see you at the next edition of the World Urban Forum!

 Other events at our Booth:

We encourage all attendees to fill out this form, intended to gather information on your participation in WUF13 and your involvement in ISOCARP activities!

In case of questions or if you would like to get in touch with ISOCARP, please contact our WUF13 coordinators:

• Dr Wafa Al-Daily, ISOCARP WUF13 Coordinator, at aldaily@isocarp.org
• Maryte Litvinaite, ISOCARP Secretariat, WUF13, at isocarp@isocarp.org