The 10th session of the World Urban Forum (WUF 10) will be held in Abu Dhabi from 8-13 February 2020 at Abu Dhabis National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC), bringing together policymakers, mayors, academics, business people, community leaders, artists and urban planners
It will be the first time that the World Urban Forum, which is convened by the UN agency focused on sustainable urbanisation, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), will take place in the Arab region.
UN-Habitat executive director Maimunah Mohd Sharif said, “The world has really changed since the first World Urban Forum back in 2002. Urbanisation is now recognised as one of the defining trends of the times. But ultimately the aim has remained constant – to promote transformative change to improve living conditions for everyone.”
The theme of the World Urban Forum this year is ‘Cities of Opportunities: Connecting Culture and Innovation’. The culture which brings together knowledge, art, belief, capabilities, habits, morals and behaviours, is widely recognised as playing a key role in the growth and development of cities.
Alongside high-level dialogues and roundtables, there are assemblies for young people, women, local and regional governments, grassroots communities and business, as well as 400 events hosted by partners. WUF 10 features an Urban Expo with more than 170 exhibitors from 66 countries, a Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Zone, an Urban Library and the UN-Habitat Better Cities Film Festival.
A Special Session on Voluntary Local Reviews, hosted by UN-Habitat and the City of New York will discuss how cities can report their progress towards the SDGs, share best practices and encourage new cities to join the movement.
WUF10 will be the first major UN event of the Decade of Action which starts this month and calls for accelerating sustainable solutions to the world’s biggest challenges.
