MMU Engages in International Dialogue at WUF13
The forum was organized by UN-Habitat this year under the theme “Housing the World: Safe and Resilient Cities and Communities.” With a primary focus on housing, resilience, and multilevel governance, MMU took part in the forum through sessions it organized and contributed to. Additionally, MMU’s booth, themed around Marmara Urban Forum (MARUF), showcased the Union’s vision and key projects while facilitating international contacts.
Bringing together more than 57,000 participants from 176 countries, the forum addressed contemporary urban challenges including housing crises, care systems, climate resilience, metropolitan governance, and multilevel cooperation. Throughout WUF13, MMU contributed to discussions emphasizing that cities should become platforms not only for debating urban issues, but also for collectively developing solutions..
Throughout the forum, MMU introduced its publications, international partnerships, and activities carried out within the scope of MARUF (Marmara Urban Forum) at its booth in the Urban Expo area. During the meetings held, information about MARUF was shared alongside discussions on enhancing intercity cooperation and collaborative solution-building capacities. Interactive activities and information-sharing sessions offered visitors a participatory experience.
MMU Sessions at WUF13
MMU participated in eight sessions at WUF13 as organiser, partner, and speaker. The sessions focused particularly on solutions to the housing crisis, multilevel governance mechanisms, cooperation among local governments, and resilient urbanisation policies.
Why Affordable Housing Needs Fewer Cars
Organised in partnership with MMU, the Walk21 Foundation and the European Cyclists’ Federation, and moderated by Görsev Argın Uz, Director of Training and Projects at MMU, the session discussed the relationship between affordable housing policies and automobile dependency. It was emphasised that housing affordability should be evaluated not only through building costs, but also together with mobility choices and urban spatial organisation.
Scaling Inclusive Urban Transformation and Redefining the Right to Housing: Practical Insights for Resilient Cities
Organized by MMU in cooperation with Metropolis, the session highlighted housing not merely as a process of physical production, but as a fundamental component of safe, resilient, and inclusive cities, with MMU Secretary General M. Cemil Arslan participating as a speaker. Representatives of local governments and experts from different cities discussed integrated urban regeneration approaches, in-situ transformation models, and practices prioritizing social inclusion aimed at strengthening the right to housing and scaling up housing policies.
Housing as Care Infrastructure: Reframing Planning, Housing and Everyday Care
Organized by MMU in partnership with the Global Alliance for Care and UCLG, the session featured Görsev Argın Uz, Director of Training and Projects at MMU, as a speaker, discussing housing not only as shelter, but also as a core component of care systems. It was emphasized that housing policies directly shape the everyday lives of children, elderly people, and individuals in need of care, and that their relationship with spatial accessibility, neighborhood services, and public spaces directly impacts the burden of care.
On the Shore of All Possibilities: Reporting on How to Plan and Finance the Metropolitan Housing
Organized in cooperation with UN-Habitat and the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB) at the Canada Pavilion, the session presented key reports on metropolitan housing planning and finance developed under MARUF25, the EMA Forum, and UN-Habitat Expert Group Meetings. During the session, MMU Urbanism Coordinator Ezgi Küçük Çalışkan highlighted the Union’s housing initiatives alongside the housing-focused agenda of MARUF.
Launching the Barcelona Metropolitan Declaration: Bold Commitments to Tackle the Housing Crisis at Metropolitan Scale
The session introduced the Barcelona Metropolitan Declaration signed within the scope of the EMA Forum, with MMU Secretary General M. Cemil Arslan participating as a speaker to discuss shared commitments to addressing the housing crisis at the metropolitan scale. The session underlined housing as a human right and emphasized the need for strong multilevel governance in response to growing housing affordability challenges and deepening metropolitan inequalities.
Housing for Freedom: Territorial Pact for the 21st Century Towards a UN Resolution on the Metropolitan Right to Housing
Organised in cooperation with Politecnico di Milano, MMU and the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB), the session featured MMU Secretary General M. Cemil Arslan as a keynote speaker, with discussions focusing on redefining the right to housing at the metropolitan scale through integrated governance, evidence-based decision-making, and shared financing mechanisms. Participants highlighted that housing, climate adaptation, mobility, services, and care systems should not be treated as separate policy fields, but as interconnected components of urban life.
When Housing Brings Cities Together: Local Cooperation in Practice
Organized by the Association of Palestinian Local Authorities (APLA) in cooperation with MMU, UCLG-MEWA, and CILG VNG International, the session featured İrem Kurtuluş Korkmaz, Director of the Urban Policy Center at MMU, as a speaker, with the discussion exploring housing as a shared policy field that encourages cooperation among cities. The dialogue particularly focused on how responses to the housing crisis are shaped through horizontal cooperation among municipalities with unequal capacities, local governments operating in fragile contexts, and rapidly urbanizing regions. Furthermore, the session emphasized the role of municipal unions and multi-stakeholder networks not merely as platforms for knowledge-sharing, but as 'implementation brokers' that organize and sustain cooperation.
From Global Agendas to Local Action: Leveraging Multi-level Urban Forum for Resilient Housing Systems
Held in partnership with the Spatial and Urban Planning Agency of the Republic of Serbia, the session featured Burcuhan Şener, International Affairs Director at MMU, with discussions highlighting the transformative role of urban forums organized at national and local levels in translating global urban agendas into local implementation. The session underlined that the housing crisis should be addressed not only through global frameworks, but also through multilevel governance approaches involving national urban policies, regional cooperation, and local government experiences.
Local and International Meetings and EMA Forum Preparations
During WUF13, MMU held various meetings with local government representatives, international organisations, and decision-makers from Türkiye and other countries. Discussions focused on intercity cooperation, metropolitan governance, housing policies, and the role of local governments within international networks.
Preparations and potential areas of cooperation for the EMA Forum (European Metropolitan Authorities Forum), to be organised by MMU in cooperation with the Barcelona Metropolitan Area on 7–8 October 2026 in Istanbul, were also discussed during the forum.
Türkiye’s Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Mr. Murat Kurum, Deputy Minister Mr. Ömer Bulut, and Ambassador of Türkiye to Baku Mr. Birol Akgün visited Marmara Municipalities Union booth and received information about MARUF and MBB’s work.
MARUF-Themed MMU Stand Drew Significant Attention
Located in the Urban Expo area, MMU booth welcomed numerous visitors from different countries throughout the forum. Information was shared about MMU’s activities, capacity-building programs for local governments, publications, and regional cooperation initiatives, while MARUF’s approach and future activities were introduced to international participants.
Beyond serving as an information point, the booth also functioned as an active meeting space encouraging interaction and exchange among participants. Through Urban Quiz competitions and interactive activities organized during the day, participants from different cities came together and shared experiences.
Spanning six days, WUF13 brought together actors from different scales to discuss the future of cities and provided an important international platform for debating the role of local governments within global agendas.
WUF13 Baku Concluded with a Global Call for Urban Action
WUF13 created an intensive discussion platform around the global housing crisis, urban inequalities, and climate resilience. Throughout the forum, governments, cities, international organizations, and multistakeholder actors stressed that housing is not only a matter of shelter, but also a systemic urban issue directly connected to finance, land management, governance, and social justice.
The forum concluded with the “Baku Call to Action,” urging stronger international cooperation toward more inclusive, people-centered, and climate-resilient approaches to the housing crisis. The closing message highlighted that the global dialogue initiated at WUF13 will continue into future gatherings, emphasizing a sense of continuity and the idea that as one forum ends, another begins.
