00:00This is historic in the numbers that have turned up, not just in those that are registering, but those that
00:07are present,
00:07heads of state and government, civil society, women's groups.
00:14Cities are expanding faster than ever before, bringing both opportunity and enormous pressure.
00:20At the World Urban Forum in Baku, political leaders, urban planners, architects and international organisations
00:26gathered to discuss how cities can become more inclusive, resilient and sustainable in an increasingly uncertain world.
00:35I think what gatherings like this show and the leadership that Azerbaijan has brought to it is that we can
00:41do it.
00:42It's not that we don't have the resources, but we've got to start to design better the financial mechanisms
00:49to allow everyone access to a roof over their head.
00:53We've got to make sure that they are integrated into a community that is inclusive,
00:58that services are available, whether it's health or it's education, a job.
01:03I mean, these all matter to people and not to just silo the issue of housing, that it's just about
01:09a house.
01:09No, it's about a home. It's about a community. It's about a life of dignity.
01:14It is important that affordable and adequate housing should be the core agenda of any country's national development
01:24because house is built by bricks and bins.
01:29Home is built with hope and dreams.
01:32That's why homes is a place where everyone can find shelters and refuge.
01:41And the home must be built with hope that can offer hope and dreams to all the homebuyers.
01:49Each edition of the World Urban Forum brings together decision makers and experts from across the globe
01:55to examine the future of urban living.
01:58This year's editions focus on climate resilience, affordable housing and innovation.
02:03It's all about how cities can adapt to the growing expansion of populations.
02:09Organised by UN Habitat, the Forum has become one of the world's leading platforms
02:14for urban policy and sustainable development.
02:17Delegates say cities are now at the centre of many global challenges
02:21and are linked to economic stability and social cohesion.
02:25It's apparent that sharing solutions and comparing problems is beneficial.
02:31The approach country by country and I think the key glue of all these discussions here
02:39was the theme how to find financing, how to include private investors into the housing sector,
02:51how to not regulate and to not build barriers for them to build housing and to help the situation.
03:02I would like to give the floor to the Minister of Housing and Construction.
03:06Considering also the war crisis, but also the climate change crisis,
03:10housing is a very essential subject.
03:13I think having resilience and also secure housing is very important for all the population in the world.
03:22I'm very optimistic in the population, in the communities,
03:26and here I think it's a good place to exchange ideas, debate and maybe make policies advance.
03:31But I think that's the real change and the real solution that will come from the people.
03:36Housing affordability is one of the major issues dominating discussions.
03:41Many cities are struggling to balance economic growth with rising living costs and growing inequality.
03:47People want to have a good, let's say, working connectivity.
03:53They want to exchange their experiences and to build the relationship for future cooperation.
03:59And this is the main meaning of the events like this.
04:05And there are a lot of architects, there are a lot of companies here, there are a lot of statesmen.
04:13And I think this is the best place where also practical, but also the political aspect can be linked together.
04:22Investment and humanizing housing are on the agenda, as many of the senior leaders emphasize.
04:29Rather than see housing as a physical thing, a house is a home, you know, we should focus on building
04:35a home, you know, and give people life, right?
04:38And, you know, we should recognize it's another type of human right, you know, to have, you know, a home,
04:46a secure livelihood, enough food on the table, you know, kids go to school.
04:51So I think this is very important.
04:54A wide range of topics were explored, including technology, innovation, reshaping urban life, rebuilding cities, and how to attract investors.
05:05Participants from across the globe attended the event, carefully engaging in what urban experts have to say.
05:11First impression, there's a lot of work that has been put in.
05:16Organization is really great.
05:18It's a very beautiful space.
05:20I see that there's a lot of provision for different sessions, different events.
05:25I think for me the key highlight is the way everything is spread out.
05:30It's not enclosed in like a hall.
05:34Everything is outside.
05:35You can actually, there's air.
05:38Everybody is trying to participate in one thing or the other.
05:42That's basically it.
05:43Circulation is good.
05:44Actually, in my own city, more than 3,000 residential houses were destroyed.
05:53So for us, searching ways how to restore and rebuild and make it better, avoid all the vulnerabilities that it
06:02used to have, is very important.
06:04I think being here, it has opened our minds in a broader spectrum, because mostly you find that in Africa,
06:11we're not that much exposed.
06:13So when we come to such forums and organizations, we are very impressed, because at the end of the day,
06:19there's a lot that will take home.
06:20What will we take home?
06:21It will be things that will make our residents or citizens back in our cities see a vibrant life.
06:27What you can take from here and use back at home and implement, you copy and paste.
06:34So, yeah, so we are copying and pasting back at home.
06:39Structures like this, we don't have back in Eswatini.
06:42So maybe we could implement some of these practices that you see here back at home one day.
06:50Maybe we'll have a World Urban Forum in Eswatini.
06:55While the World Urban Forum does not produce binding agreements, it has become hugely influential in shaping conversations around urban
07:04development and sustainability.
07:07The message here is clear.
07:08Without urban cooperation, investment and planning, the future is going to be critical.
07:15Building material is so expensive, finance is so expensive, planning is so expensive.
07:21Essentially, the heart of this process has been an attempt to achieve a certain degree of change.
07:24All those skills can come for a better price and at an affordable price for the city.
07:31But something is wrong in our system. It doesn't work like that.
07:36By 2050, nearly 70% of the world's population is expected to live in urban areas.
07:42Participants attending the World Urban Forum say the decisions made on housing, sustainability and infrastructure
07:49could define how future generations experience city life across the globe.
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