Mexico City, 27 October 2026 — The fourteenth session of the World Urban Forum (WUF14) – the premier global conference on sustainable urbanization and human settlements – will take place in Mexico City from 31 July to 4 August in 2028.
The announcement was made in the Mexican capital at a press conference attended by the Mexico City’s Head of Government, Clara Brugada Molina, and the United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), Anacláudia Rossbach.
Ms. Brugada Molina described the holding of WUF14 in the Mexican capital as historic, noting it will be a strategic space for representatives from world’s cities to debate proposals and build the future of cities.
WUF14 will serve as a preamble to evaluate the progress made regarding the 2030 Agenda, Ms. Brugada added.
“I am delighted that the World Urban Forum is returning to Latin America. This comes at a critical moment, when we are seeing growing political support for adequate housing. WUF14 will be an opportunity to build on this momentum, strengthen partnerships and coalitions, and accelerate action towards sustainable urban development,” Ms. Rossbach said.
“We look forward to working with governments, cities, partners and stakeholders from around the world,” she continued, “to advance the New Urban Agenda and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, particularly Sustainable Development Goal 11 on sustainable cities and communities, and to build on the commitments of the Baku Call to Action.”
Ms. Rossbach was in Mexico to strengthen strategic alliances in the lead-up to the World Urban Forum and to hold meetings with government representatives, youth, civil society, and the academic community.
In March 2023, Mexico City was selected to host WUF14 following a competitive bidding process and a comprehensive evaluation. This included technical visits, security assessments, and evaluations of the proposed venue and logistical arrangements.
World Urban Forum
The World Urban Forum (WUF) was established in 2001 by the United Nations to address one of the most pressing challenges facing the world: rapid urbanization and its impact on people, cities, economies, the climate and public policies.
The forum is convened by UN-Habitat every two years. It serves as a high-level, open and inclusive platform for dialogue, knowledge exchange and input from stakeholders into the UN’s intergovernmental processes.
The first World Urban Forum (WUF1) took place in Nairobi, Kenya. Since then, each session has been held in a different city around the world. The fourteenth session in Mexico City will mark the forum’s return to Latin America and the Caribbean after more than a decade.
The region previously hosted WUF5 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and WUF7 in Medellín, Colombia, as well as the Habitat III Conference in Quito, Ecuador, in 2016, where the New Urban Agenda was adopted.
The latest session of the Forum, WUF13, took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, in May 2026. It broke records by bringing together more than 58,000 participants from 176 countries.
