The world's largest and most important event devoted to cities—the World Urban Forum (WUF)—is set to take place in Central and Eastern Europe in Poland for the first time in its 20-year history.
For five days from June 26 to 30, 2022, Katowice will become the capital of all cities in the world, according to a statement issued by the Embassy of the Republic of Poland received in Jakarta on Thursday.
The slogan of the Polish edition of the WUF is “Transforming our cities for a better urban future.”
At the international event, participants will decide on the future of cities. Registration for the event will remain open until June 22 on the website wuf.unhabitat.org.
At the forum, representatives of countries from all over the world, scientists, businesspersons, and, above all, city dwellers will look for solutions that can be transformed into concrete actions. The aim will be to make cities more inhabitant-friendly.
The World Urban Forum was initiated by UN-Habitat (United Nations Human Settlements Programme).
The first forum was held in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2002 and since then, it has been taking place all over the world regularly every two years.
Its sessions have been hosted in Barcelona, Vancouver, Nanjing, Rio de Janeiro, Naples, Medellin, Kuala Lumpur, and Abu Dhabi so far.
Six themes
“This is a great honor for Poland and an expression of trust from our UN partners. At the event, we will show, among others, the impressive transformation that our cities have undergone and share our experiences," Polish Minister of Development Funds and Regional Policy, Grzegorz Puda, said.
Discussions at WUF will revolve around six themes: fair cities, a green future for cities, innovation and technology, building the resilience of cities, urban planning and management, and the future of urban economy and finance.
In view of the Russian aggression against Ukraine and the enormous destruction experienced by Ukrainian cities, the topic of rebuilding cities after a war will be included in the program at Poland's request.
“It is very important to us that WUF 11 is not only a meeting of experts and practitioners, but that it also becomes an attraction for the inhabitants of Katowice and all those who will visit the capital of the Silesian Voivodeship at that time,” Poland’s Deputy Minister of Funds and Regional Policy, Magorzata Jarosiska-Jedynak, said.
“In this context, I would like to encourage you to participate in the Urban Expo and visit the 11 zones we have called ‘WUF in the City,’” the government plenipotentiary for the preparation of the World Urban Forum said.
The Urban Expo is expected to be the most interesting attraction of the World Urban Forum, drawing the largest number of participants.
At the Urban Expo, countries, cities, as well as companies will set up promotional pavilions.
Another attraction for the inhabitants will be thematic zones under the common banner of “WUF in the City.”
The urban space will host, among others, a science zone, an innovation zone, an urban cinema, and a music stage. The exact locations and programs of the zones will be announced soon.
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Editor : Mahdani
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