Photo taken on Nov. 25, 2025, shows the scene of a media briefing on the 13th session of World Urban Forum, scheduled in Baku, Azerbaijan in May 2026, in Nairobi, Kenya. [Photo/Xinhua]

A new roadmap for strengthening the resilience of rapidly growing cities in the Global South amid multiple challenges should be implemented through consensus among key stakeholders, a senior official from the United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN-Habitat) said Tuesday.

UN-Habitat Executive Director Anaclaudia Rossbach noted that the Global South is the new epicenter of rapid urbanization, hence the need to establish policy and regulatory safeguards required to ensure cities are green and livable.

She said urbanization in the developing world has been accompanied by many challenges, such as the growth of informal settlements, poverty and inequality, segregation, and lack of access to basic services.

According to Rossbach, if managed well, urbanization could unleash growth, innovation, and social transformation in Africa, Latin America, and Asia that are projected to host the world's largest urban population by 2050.

The UN-Habitat official made the remarks during a media briefing on the 13th session of World Urban Forum, scheduled in Baku, Azerbaijan in May 2026, under the theme of "Housing the World: Safe and Resilient Cities and Communities."

Rossbach said since its inception in 2002, the World Urban Forum has acted as a premier gathering for key stakeholders, including ministers, mayors, innovators, civil society actors, investors, and scholars, to revitalize the urbanization agenda.

The New Urban Agenda, according to Rossbach, calls for people-centered urban planning, upgrading informal settlements and ecological resilience of cities -- priorities that are central to sustainable urbanization in the Global South.

She hailed the inaugural Africa Urban Forum held in 2024, which underscored the importance of sustainable growth of cities in the continent amid massive rural-to-urban migration.

"I think for the Global South, it is very important that we look at experiences, look at the models, but we understand the context that we live in, and we adapt the solution by putting housing at the center of the national development agenda," Rossbach said.

She emphasized that progressive legislation and policies, domestic resource mobilization, innovation, and sharing of best practices will be key to transforming urban centers in the Global South.