The Head of State participates in the World Urban Forum Summit
The success of a city is not measured by the number of skyscrapers, technology, or its gross product. It is measured by whether even the most vulnerable person has a home and security. A city is not great because it is big, but when no one in it feels superfluous. This was stated by President Iliana Iotova in her address at the Summit within the framework of the 13th session of the World Urban Forum. The theme of the event is “Housing the World: Safe and Sustainable Cities and Communities”.
The World Urban Forum was established in 2001 by the United Nations in response to rapid urbanisation and its impact on communities, cities, economies, climate change and public policies. The forum, held every two years in different countries, has established itself as the most significant global event in the field of urban development. At the initiative of Azerbaijan, a Summit with the participation of heads of state and government was also held for the first time.
The President was categorical that investments should be primarily aimed at people. Technologies should serve people, not replace them. Artificial intelligence, digital systems and "smart cities" will have true value only if they benefit humanity, if they reduce inequalities and make life more accessible, safer and more dignified, Iotova emphasised. She noted that housing policy should not only be a sectoral policy, but a policy for the future of society itself. We need cities that do not divide people by income, generation or origin. Cities that give a chance. Cities that create a community, the head of state added.
In her address, Iotova stressed that cities today are geopolitics in action, and the way they are built will determine not only the quality of life, but also the stability of societies, the resilience of states and trust in political systems. The future will not be measured only by economic growth. It will be measured by whether we have managed to create cities in which people want to live, raise families, work and dream, the president pointed out.
Iliana Iotova cited data that by 2050, seven out of every ten people on the planet will live in cities. Nearly 2.8 billion people around the world live without a home that meets the principles of human dignity. To meet the needs by the end of this decade alone, the world must create one home every second, the president said.
According to Iotova, access to housing is not just a matter of the market, but of justice and dignity. A home is not a commodity, but the beginning of everything else. Without it, there is no stable job, no school for children, no healthcare, no citizens who feel part of their community. When a city loses its capacity to shelter people, it has lost not buildings - it has lost meaning, the head of state said.
In her speech, the president outlined the processes of rapid urbanisation, noting the need for new adequate tools for managing the urban environment, management on the principle of "common goals, different roles" - between national governments, regions, cities and communities.
Iliana Iotova raised the issue of urbanisation in the context of military conflicts in different parts of the world and climate change. Over 60% of those fleeing wars seek refuge in cities because there is security, work, and school there, the president said, emphasising that these people are not a threat but a potential. Iotova said that a prepared city turns the arriving person into its citizen, an employee, a taxpayer, a neighbour, while an unprepared one pushes him to the periphery, into the informal, into the invisible. According to the president, the sustainability of the city is not an ecological luxury, but a necessity that affects entire regions.
The head of state presented the picture in Bulgaria – an aging population, internal migrations, depopulated regions and inequalities between large centres and small towns. We know what it means for one city to grow while another nearby is dying out. We know what it means for young families to be unable to afford a home, and for entire generations to lose their sense of perspective. These realities face us with the same challenges, regardless of which part of the world we come from, Iotova said.
The president's delegation to Baku also includes the Mayor of Veliko Tarnovo and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria, Daniel Panov. At a meeting yesterday between the head of state and her Azerbaijani counterpart, in which Panov also participated, the implementation of the Shusha Park project in Veliko Tarnovo was also discussed with the Azerbaijani side.
Representatives of local authorities from different parts of Bulgaria are also participating in the World Urban Forum, which continues until May 22. The 13th session of the forum brings together over 40,000 participants from 182 countries.