Urban regeneration and housing. People-centered urban intervention to advance more sustainable cities

The side event at the World Urban Forum will explore urban regeneration and people-centered housing as key drivers for enhancing quality of life in cities, with particular attention to the most vulnerable neighborhoods. It will present urban regeneration as a comprehensive and integrated process that responds to residents’ everyday needs, improves housing conditions, and delivers interventions that enhance thermal and climate comfort, energy efficiency, universal accessibility, and the quality of public spaces. From a social and territorial perspective, the event will underscore the importance of placing people at the center of urban policies in order to foster healthier, more inclusive, and more resilient urban environments. In this context, the event will also examine the strategic role of urban regeneration as a tool for promoting housing affordability. It will discuss models and experiences in which urban transformation functions as a mechanism for financing, value capture, and the redistribution of benefits, enabling broader access to adequate and affordable housing without displacing the resident population. Urban regeneration will thus be framed not only as a process of physical intervention, but as a public policy approach that integrates economic, regulatory, and governance instruments to advance more equitable cities. The City Council of Bilbao, the Basque Government, through the Department of Housing and Urban Agenda, and the University of Shanghai, will jointly organize the event. It will bring together representatives from cities, regions, and national governments, who will share lessons learned and good practices from diverse contexts. The session will also incorporate contributions from academia and civil society, fostering a multi-stakeholder dialogue aimed at enriching reflection and strengthening partnerships. Through this exchange, the event seeks to contribute to the WUF main them Housing the World, highlighting urban regeneration as a fundamental pillar of people-centered housing and sustainable urban development. Finally, the event will be an opportunity to present best cases from the International Outstanding Practices on Urban Regeneration (IOPUR). This initiative is a joint effort between UN-Habitat and Shanghai University that identifies, documents, and shares innovative urban and rural regeneration practices from around the world. Among the submitted cases, the largest category is housing, basic services, and slum upgrading. Following the launch of its first cycle in 2025, the call for submissions for the second cycle will be announced during this session. In addition, the first International Leadership Training Programme on Urban–Rural Regeneration, to be hosted by Shanghai University in October 2026, will also open its call for participants during this session. Objectives: • Present successful case studies of housing-focused urban regeneration projects implemented in vulnerable neighborhoods worldwide. • Demonstrate financing mechanisms used in the implementation of affordable housing projects within the framework of urban regeneration processes. • Exchange reflections on current approaches to urban regeneration, particularly in relation to housing. • Promote the sharing of experiences across different contexts regarding urban regeneration as a tool to address the housing crisis. • Highlight the importance of citizen participation in urban regeneration processes in vulnerable neighborhoods.