UNESCO Highlights Culture’s Role in Sustainable Development at World Urban Forum 12 in Cairo

UNESCO participated actively in the 12^th edition of the World Urban Forum (WUF12) in Cairo. Convened by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), the WUF12 focused on the theme of “It All Starts at Home.” The meeting was attended by 25,000 from 182 countries. A UNESCO delegation led by the Deputy Director of the World Heritage Centre, Ms Jyoti Hosabrahar,  highlighted the importance of culture in sustainable urban development. UNESCO organized and participated in key sessions, advocating for inclusivity, resilience, and the integration of cultural heritage in urban policies.

The Deputy Director of the World Heritage Centre represented UNESCO in the "One UN Roundtable," co-organized by UN-Habitat and the UN Development Coordination Office, which discussed collaborative urban strategies and funding to accelerate the localizing of the Sustainable Development Goals.

On the topic of culture for inclusive public space, UNESCO contributed in two significant ways. First, the One UN event on "Culture-Powered Public Spaces," organized by UNESCO examined how cultural assets are used to create inclusive, resilient, and prosperous public spaces. The event featured insights from UN agencies, intergovernmental organizations, development banks, NGOs, and cultural professionals. Highlights included, the opening Remarks delivered by Mr. Ernesto Ottone R., Assistant Director-General for Culture, emphasizing culture's impact on public spaces through a video message. The event was moderated by the deputy director of the World Heritage Centre, underscoring UNESCO's leadership in advocating for culture as a standalone goal in the post-2030 agenda and the upcoming MONDIACULT 2025.

Key Perspectives include Mr. Jean-Pierre Elong Mbassi of UCLG Africa showcasing initiatives like the African Capitals of Culture to demonstrate culture's role in social and economic growth. Panellists from agencies such as UN-Habitat, FAO, OHCHR, and IaDB discussed how culture enhances public policies, supports cultural rights, fosters social inclusion, and drives sustainable practices. A key takeaway was the consensus on the need for stronger coordination among stakeholders to position culture as a central pillar in the development agenda beyond 2030.

A second key event on public space was a Special Session, "A Space for All" where the Deputy Director spoke emphasizing the need for integrating cultural heritage and historic public spaces into planning and design to advance sustainable, inclusive public spaces driven by community involvement. She highlighted the 2011 Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape and gave examples of people-centred public spaces from World Heritage Cities as well as those with living heritage on the 2003 Convention on Intangible Cultural Heritage List of Humanity.  Panelists engaged in a rich dialogue, exploring how art, culture, and placemaking contribute to vibrant, inclusive public spaces.

UN Tourism, UN-Habitat, and UNESCO co-hosted a high-level ONE UN side event titled “Urban Tourism: Policies and Governance for More Sustainable, Inclusive, Creative, and Resilient Cities” This event explored the role of tourism policies and governance in building resilient urban environments, with a particular focus on culture and creativity. Key participants included Mr. Elkin Velasquez, Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean of UN-Habitat; Ms. Zoritsa Urosevic, Executive Director of UN Tourism (virtual participation); and Mr. Ernesto Ottone R., Assistant Director-General for Culture of UNESCO (virtual participation). The event also included mayors from cities worldwide, including Mr. Rui Moreira, Mayor of Porto (Portugal); Mr. José Luis Martínez-Almeida, Mayor of Madrid (Spain); Ms. Marifrán Carazo Villalonga, Mayor of Granada (Spain); Councillor Malibongwe Mfazwe, Member of the Mayoral Committee for Human Settlements in Buffalo City (South Africa); and Ms. Carolina Darias San Sebastián, Mayor of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain), who participated virtually. This event marked significant progress in fostering cross-sector collaboration among UN bodies focused on tourism, human settlements, creativity, and culture. A key highlight was the announcement of the upcoming launch of “Culture-driven Sustainable Urban Tourism” – a series of Urban Solutions led by UNESCO in collaboration with UN Tourism and UN-Habitat, aimed at promoting cultural understanding and sustainable growth, positioning tourism as a catalyst for positive urban change.

UN-Habitat’s Special Session on the “Wisdom of Civilizations”  explored the interconnections between power, urban governance, circularity, and their expression in urban structures that shape modern societies.  Here, UNESCO was invited to contribute to the role of urban heritage in the future of cities and settlements and to share its instruments such as the 1972 World Heritage Convention and the 2011 Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape as well as some innovative tools and platforms it has developed such as the World Heritage Canopy and the UNESCO Urban Heritage Atlas. The Deputy Director advocated for the importance of integrating heritage in urban development plans and processes and highlighted how the tools and platforms to facilitate cultural mapping and the integration of cultural heritage in sustainable urban development for heritage-based solutions and mapping the unique characteristics of historic cities. Key participants included Tokyo Governor Ms. Yuriko Koike, Egyptian Minister of Planning and Economic Development Dr. Rania El Mashat, Deputy Executive Director of UN-Habitat, Dr. Ismail Sirag El Din (NGIC), Prof. Youssef Diab (University Gustave Eiffel), Munir Manneh (UNUNRWA).

UNESCO was also invited to join the "Global and Regional urban data to address sustainable urbanization at all levels." roundtable led by the Executive Director of UN-Habitat, Ms. Anaclaudia Rossbach where the Deputy Director recalled that the UNESCO Culture|2030 Indicators framework has data to measure culture’s impact on sustainable development across 14 cities in all regions of the world and be shortly adding  15 new cities and settlements in addition to national level data on culture relevant for cities. She also recalled that 10 indicators of the UNESCO Culture|2030 Indicators framework have been integrated with the Urban Monitoring Framework. This event was intended to be the launch of the coalition, a network of organizations for urban data.  The Deputy Director also presented the variety of data sources utilised by the UNESCO Cultural|2030 Indicators for gathering urban data.

The UNESCO Regional Office for Egypt and Sudan contributed with sessions on Cairo’s urban heritage, highlighting the balance between heritage preservation and urban needs, and exploring themes on the Historic Urban Islamic Landscape and Urban Agriculture. Information on these events can be found on UNESCO Cairo Office . Through these events, UNESCO reinforced the centrality of cultural heritage in sustainable urban strategies, inspiring collaboration and action worldwide.