The Ninth Session of the World Urban Forum was the first session to focus on the implementation of the New Urban Agenda adopted in Habitat III. WUF9 will be instrumental to substantively feed into the inputs for the first report of the implementation of the New Urban Agenda. During this week-long event, WRI will be hosting a variety of side sessions and special events, promoting WRI research and new launches.


Strengthening multi-level governmental coordination to accelerate subnational actions

The session will contribute to advancing linkages between sustainable development, climate change and cities, and aims to bring together key urban stakeholders to identify priorities for co-production of actionable knowledge. The session is expected to partially answer why subnational actions on SDG 11 and SDG 13 are or are not implemented at scale, what institutional constraints they face, and how to best address them.

Date: February 10, 2018, 17:00-18:00 MYT

Location: Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre

Speakers: Angela Enriquez and Wee Kean Fong


Innovative clean transport business models: training for public officials

The training event will provide a hands-on introduction to electric fleets, exploring international examples and examining how cities addressed critical barriers. The emphasis of the session is to provide practical and actionable strategies to understand and implement clean bus business models: the set of components, activities and relationships that go into the delivery of a low-emission bus service. The event will introduce the FSCI Business Model Framework – developed by WRI as part of the Financing Sustainable Cities Initiative (FSCI), a partnership between WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities and C40, funded by the Citi Foundation – and launch their new platform.

Date: February 11, 2018, 11:00-14:00 MYT

Location: Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre

Speakers: Sebastian Castellanos and Kate Owens


Thriving Cities, Prosperous Countries: From Agenda to Implementation

In collaboration with C40 and the Coalition for Urban Transitions, WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities will hold a parallel event at the ninth session of the World Urban Forum. The event will explore critical areas where national and local governments must work together more effectively to deliver cities for all. We will feature expert presentations and diverse panels including national and city decision-makers, with representatives from the private sector and civil society. With high-level opening and concluding panels, the event will cover key topics in the New Urban Agenda that are important to meet the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement. Sessions will focus on urban land use and housing, infrastructure and finance. During this event, Ani and Jessica will launch the Ross Prize for Cities, a $250,000 cash prize for transformative urban projects, funded by Stephen Ross. The event will be followed by a networking reception.

Date: February 11, 2018, 13:00-20:45 MYT

Location: Salon One at Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur

Speakers: Listed here


Leveraging Community Knowledge in Disaster Management and Resilience Planning in Cities (UCRA)

This event aims at exploring ways in which city governments use, or intend to use, community knowledge in developing methods of building resilience to climate change in vulnerable communities of Asian cities. To this end, this side event will help in fulfilling the commitment to prioritize social inclusion in achieving 'environmentally sustainable and resilient urban development,' and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals 11 and 13.

Date: February 12, 2018, 14:00-15:00 MYT

Location: Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre

Speakers: Lubaina Rangwala


Implementing the new urban agenda through a global sustainable cities platform: the GPSC

The networking event presents the Global Platform for Sustainable Cities (GPSC) as a model of partnership which combines technical support and funding for sustainable urban projects. The event will have a panel format in which the various actors involved in the project (GEF, World Bank, WRI, ICLEI, C40 and a recipient country) will present different aspects of the project.

Date: February 8, 2018, 09:00-11:00 MYT

Location: Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre

Speakers: Marianna Orloff