The 13th World Urban Forum (WUF13) was held on May 17-22, 2026, in Baku, Azerbaijan. The forum brought together over 57,000 delegates from 176 countries, making it the largest WUF in history. A total of nearly 580 sessions and dialogue activities took place throughout the event. Under the theme Housing the world: Safe and resilient cities and communities, the forum focused on global housing crises, climate adaptation, urban inclusivity, and sustainable urbanization. It issued the Baku Call to Action, promoted the implementation of the New Urban Agenda, and built global consensus for localized implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the city level.
Invited by the Beijing Information Office of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), Research Fellow Yang Feng and Senior Engineer Yan Maomao from the Division of Cities Sustainable Development Standardization of CNIS attended the forum. They systematically presented the work of ISO/TC 268 on urban sustainable development, actively promoted global cooperation on international standards projects led by China, and participated in in-depth discussions on the update of post-2030 SDG indicators after 2030. Their engagement demonstrated CNISs leading role and practical contributions to international standardization work in this field.
The forums organizer, UN-Habitat, emphasized that cities are the core of climate action and the implementation of the SDGs, and that urban governance directly affects poverty reduction, livelihoods, climate adaptation, and social equity. Prominent challenges such as governance fragmentation, unimplemented indicators, and asynchronous implementation urgently need to be addressed through means of standardization, data-driven approaches, and localization. Participants widely agreed that Voluntary Local Reviews (VLRs) are essential tools for local and regional governments to implement the SDGs. They called for scientifically optimizing the post-2030 SDG indicator framework based on city-level practices and data and strengthening the measurability, operability, and country-specific applicability of the indicators.
During the forum, CNIS representatives delivered presentations and engaged in discussions on how international standards for urban sustainable development can support the local implementation and review of the SDGs. They highlighted several international standards led by CNIS that are under development, including the framework and principles for zero-carbon cities, the application of AI in smart city operation models, and the urban sustainability indicator library. They explained how these standards support the SDGs at the city level through the full chain of indicator implementation, planning, monitoring and evaluation, and performance improvement.
With standards as a bridge, data as a foundation, and local implementation as the goal, the delegation engaged in multiple bilateral meetings. They translated Chinas urban sustainable development policies into executable, measurable, and replicable practical cases, providing Chinas experience and standardized pathways as a reference for cities around the world.
CNIS will fully leverage the outcomes of WUF13, deepen practical cooperation with other representatives in the field of standardization of urban sustainable development standardization, promote the development of international standards related to the local implementation of the SDGs, and contribute Chinas solutions to the new diagram of global urban sustainable development, which is safe, resilient, green, and livable.
