Every year, Urban October brings together meetings, discussions, and events around the world that draw attention to urban issues and sustainable development. This UN-Habitat initiative begins with World Habitat Day and ends with World Cities Day — two key moments that remind us of the urgent need to rethink the way we live and build our cities.
In 2025, World Habitat Day was held under the theme ‘Responding to the Urban Crisis’. This theme is particularly relevant at a time when urban communities around the world are facing insecurity, displacement, inequality and the effects of climate change (remember to sign the letter for COP30 here).
Faced with these challenges, urbaMonde’s partners demonstrate that community-based and solidarity initiatives can provide concrete, sustainable solutions: participatory housing models, community funds, and eco-construction projects that empower residents.
World Cities Day, which closes Urban October, focuses this year on the theme of ‘People-centred smart cities’. For urbaMonde, urban innovation is not limited to technology: it lies in how communities are involved, how neighbourhoods are co-constructed, and how new forms of governance are experimented with.
Exploratory walks, Minecraft workshops, and participatory mapping of land use: the activities organised by the Urban Fabric Initiatives perfectly illustrate this participatory and inventive approach, where residents become active participants in their environment.
Urban October reminds us that the ‘smartest’ cities are those that place solidarity, creativity, and citizen participation at the heart of their development.
