Baku, the "city of winds," is a fitting place to discuss the vital importance of clean air in cities.
Today, cities are home to 45% of the world's population, which stands at 8.2 billion.
According to Oxu.Az, this was stated by Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Deputy Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme, during her speech at WUF13.
She spoke at a high-level forum titled "Source of Inspiration for a New Urban Agenda: Integrating Air Quality and Green Infrastructure for Sustainable Cities," organized by the IDEA Public Union.
"This trend will continue. By 2050, urban environments will account for about two-thirds of global population growth. WUF13 is a critical opportunity not only to discuss how cities grow but also to rethink the concept of livability under increasing urbanization."
She also highlighted support for the "Baku Coalition for Breathable Cities" initiative, which seeks to integrate air quality directly into urban planning, housing design, and land use regulation.
"The ambition is clear: to elevate air quality from a narrow technical field to a structural element of urban governance and design, and to reinforce this principle beyond the World Urban Forum as part of long-term urban policy transformation," she noted.
