From 4 to 8 November 2024, the 12th World Urban Forum, organized by UN Habitat, took place in Cairo. This important conference takes place every two years and serves to bring together urban experts from around the world to share solutions to challenges in cities and learn from the host city. Over 20,000 people took part, the majority from African countries, and formulated the Cairo Call for Action.
The New Urban Agenda guides sustainable urban development worldwide, supported by Sustainable Development Goal 11. UN Habitat’s World Urban Forum serves to review progress on these guidelines every two years and to learn from each other. The 2030 Agenda deadline is not far away, and with the 11th Sustainable Development Goal lagging behind, this year’s meeting was particularly important. 96 mayors from different countries, experts from city administrations, architects, urban planners and many other interested parties were on hand to share solutions and find inspiration.
In addition to topics such as climate change, housing shortages, inequalities, conflicts and the role of children and young people, WUF12 also focused on the potential of data and technology. The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy organized an exciting panel with mayors from Bristol, Cairo, Quelimane and Athens, moderated by Anthony Flint. This event showed how influential mayors and local governments are when it comes to implementing urban development on the ground.
For example, Dr. Ibrahim Seber, Governor of Cairo, explained how the megacity uses data analytics to keep an eye on its infrastructure. This includes databases that show where water and sewage pipes run and when they need to be maintained. To finance the many projects in Cairo, both large and small companies are offering their support – because there is a lot of growth potential in tourism in particular.
Quelimane in Mozambique relies on technology when it comes to land rights. In view of the rapidly growing population in the country’s fourth largest city, there are many conflicts over land. With the help of a GIS-based app, the city administration can now keep track of the situation and also set environmental protection regulations that are adapted to each plot of land.
And in Athens, the Internet of Things plays an important role, for example via sensors on waste garbage cans and wheelchair ramps. Citizens can report potholes, garbage and other problems in the city to the administration via an app. The former mayor, Kostas Bakoyannis, emphasizes that the needs of the citizens should always play a greater role than technological progress.
Cairo was an interesting choice for a conference on sustainable urban development. The slogan “It all starts at home” invited participants to look at the city from the perspectives discussed. The numerous construction sites show the high ambitions of the Egyptian capital and Abdel Farrah el-Sisi, the country’s president, promised green, intelligent infrastructure during the opening ceremony. At the same time, the city, which at 23 million inhabitants is roughly the size of Mexico City, has to deal with rapid population growth, housing shortages and land conflicts.
One of the government’s approaches is to demolish the informal settlements in the old town and relocate the residents to social housing projects. Richer people will live in the new capital, which is currently being built at a rapid pace in the desert. So far, however, only 2,000 people live in this city from the drawing board with its 12-lane roads, monotonous housing estates, a central business district and no green spaces or mixed use. A single train is supposed to provide public transportation for up to 8 million people.
The old town, on the other hand, is very lively. Between the roaring traffic and major tourist projects, there is valuable evidence of the many versions of Cairo – Coptic, Islamic, French. But it seems that the people are not central to the urban development strategy.
The twelfth edition of the World Urban Forum was the largest conference of its kind to date. With over half of the world’s population now living in cities, where they are often exposed to the consequences of climate change, it is more important than ever to discuss sustainable urban development. The conference showed how important local action and solutions are, but also that there are significant funding bottlenecks.
Anacláudia Rossbach, Director of UN Habitat, described the four main priorities that emerged from the conference as follows: “the urgent resolution of the housing crisis, which is closely linked to other crises; equitable and sustainable financing for urban development; documenting, sharing and learning from existing solutions to act faster; and harnessing the potential of coalitions and partnerships.”
Delegates are now on their way back or directly to the next conference, COP29 in Baku, hopefully remembering the Cairo Call to Action. This document summarizes all the results of WUF12. At the next World Urban Forum, planned for May 2026, also in Baku, Azerbaijan, cities will then review their progress.
Read more: The last World Urban Forum took place in Katowice, Poland,in 2022
