The representatives of the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrustructure, the Agency for Spatial and Urban Planning of the Republic of Serbia, the City of Niš, the City of Kragujevac, the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities and other participants from Serbia attended the Twelfth Session of World Urban Forum (WUF12), held in Cairo from 4 to 8 November 2024. The Forum was dedicated to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals at the local level.

The total number of attendees at the Forum was 25000, coming from 182 countries, setting a record when it comes to the number of attendees. The Forum was organised by United Nations Human Settlements Programme (Un-Habitat).

Active participation of the Serbian representatives provided the opportunity to present activities related to the implementation of the Strategy of Sustainable Urban Development of the Republic of Serbia until 2030, monitoring urban development at both national and local levels, activities aimed at improving life quality in cities as well as on strengthening cooperation with spatial and urban planners from all participating countries, with a special focus on the cooperation with the countries from the regions of Eastern Europe, South Caucasus and Central Asia.

The theme of the WUF12 being “It all starts at home: Local actions for sustainable cities and communities,” the presentations from Serbia highlighted the significance of the activities in the area of spatial and urban planning and urban development being realised in Serbia. Special focus was given to the Voluntary Local Review developed in 2024 and presented in the Assembly of the City of Niš in October, just before the WUF. Following the UN recommendations, the National Urban Forum in Serbia was held in April 2024 as a preparatory event for the World Urban Forum. The Thirteenth World Urban Forum will be held in 2026 in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.