Marmara Urban Forum (MARUF)

Marmara Urban Forum / Marmara International Urban Forum (MARUF) is Turkey's first national city forum.

Marmara Urban Forum (MARUF) is a biennial international urban forum organized by Marmara Municipalities Union. The key motto of MARUF, which was held for the first time in the Istanbul Congress Center on October 1-3 2019 with the participation of 250 speakers from 25 countries and 5540 participants, was established as “Cities Developing Solutions”.

MARUF targets to create a basis for sharing knowledge, experience and opportunities between public and private sectors, non-governmental organizations, universities, local governments and other relevant stakeholders, and to evaluate different approaches on urban services and urban management in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Combining local and international knowledge and experience in order to contribute to the implementation of the New Urban Agenda, MARUF opens up issues for discussion along with alternative aspects of the debate.

MARUF aims:

  • Examining the economic, political, social and ecological changes and problems caused by the urbanization process in the life of individuals and societies and in the city itself, in cooperation and solidarity at local, regional, national and international levels,
  • Reinforcing the role of local governments and cities in crisis as well as human mobility situations caused by various reasons,
  • Raising awareness about safe, inclusive, enduring and sustainable urbanization,
  • Contributing to the formation of a more livable and equitable world of cities,
  • Ensuring the flow of information between cities and city-regions, and supporting the relationship networks between cities
For more information, you can visit the MARUF website. Go to the website

Other Events

All Events