About

Marmara Urban Forum (MARUF), is a biennial international urban forum to be organized by Marmara Municipalities Union for the first time on 1-3 October 2019 for three days at Istanbul Congress Center in Istanbul, Turkey.

MARUF will gather professionals from cities, national, regional and local governments, private sector, NGOs, universities and other stakeholders that play a crucial role in the design, transformation and governance of cities with the aim of sharing knowledge, experience and of creating new opportunities. Plenary sessions, parallel sessions, workshops, exhibitions, study tours and cultural events will be organized in the venue of the event. Guided by the Sustainable Development Goals, different approaches on urban services and urban management will be discussed in the forum. MARUF aims to find alternative ways for discussing urban issues to contribute to the implementation of the New Urban Agenda.

MARUF aims:

• Analyzing economic, political, social and ecological impacts of urbanization on humans’ lives and cities in collaboration with all stakeholders at local, regional, national and international levels,
• Developing information flow and networks among cities and city-regions,
• Raising awareness on safe, inclusive, resilient and sustainable urbanization approaches,
• Contributing to the transformation of cities to make them more liveable and equitable,
• Discussing how to strengthen the role of cities and local governments in case of emergency situations and human mobility related problems.