Marmara Urban Forum (MARUF)}
marmaraurbanforum.org >

Marmara Urban Forum (MARUF)

Marmara Urban Forum (MARUF) is Türkiye's first national urban forum. Marmara Urban Forum (MARUF) is a biennial international urban forum organized by Marmara Municipalities Union. The key motto of MARUF is “Cities Developing Solutions”.

MARUF brings together urban thinkers around passionate debates on how to make cities more livable, sustainable, resilient, and inclusive. It will gather all stakeholders including 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. The forum will hosts plenary sessions, roundtables, workshops, serious games, ideathons, networking events, exhibitions, field trips, side events, cultural events, booths, film screenings and various other events.

MARUF was held for the first time in the Istanbul Congress Center on October 1-3 2019. MARUF19 brought together 250 speakers from 25 countries and 5540 participants.

MARUF21 was organized as a virtual event on the theme of “Re-Think, Co-Act” in 2021 in cooperation with 113 partners. It gathered more than 500 speakers and 8000+ viewers from 52 countries in over 100 sessions.

MARUF23 was held in Istanbul from October 4th to 7th, 2023, with the main theme of "Resilience and Beyond". World Metropolitan Day (October 7), organized in cooperation with Metropolis and UN-Habitat, took place this year within the scope of the Marmara Urban Forum, hosted by the Marmara Municipalities Union. MARUF23 brought together over 5000 participants, including over 380 speakers from more than 45 countries. Throughout the event, there were more than 140 sessions, 6 exhibitions, 20 urban routes, 4 film screenings, and 16 booths.

UN-Habitat, Turkish Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, ICLEI, Eurocities, Energy Cities, CDP, WRI, WWF, UNDP, UITP, WeGO, NALAS as well as many other NGOs, municipalities, universities, think-tanks, development agencies are among the partners of MARUF.

MARUF targets to create a basis for sharing knowledge, experience and opportunities between public and private sectors, non-governmental organizations, universities, local governments and other relevant stakeholders, and to evaluate different approaches on urban services and urban management in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Combining local and international knowledge and experience in order to contribute to the implementation of the New Urban Agenda, MARUF opens up issues for discussion along with alternative aspects of the debate.

MARUF aims:

  • Examining the economic, political, social and ecological changes and problems caused by the urbanization process in the life of individuals and societies and in the city itself, in cooperation and solidarity at local, regional, national and international levels,
  • Reinforcing the role of local governments and cities in crisis as well as human mobility situations caused by various reasons,
  • Raising awareness about safe, inclusive, enduring and sustainable urbanization,
  • Contributing to the formation of a more livable and equitable world of cities,
  • Ensuring the flow of information between cities and city-regions, and supporting the relationship networks between cities
For more information, you can visit the MARUF website. Go to the website

Other Events

All Events
Golden Ant Awards

Golden Ant Awards

With the Golden Ant Awards, evaluations are made in certain project categories within the scope of different administrative categories.
Urban Talks

Urban Talks

Urban Talks is a series of talks that allow information, experience sharing and discussion on issues affecting cities and society such as urban space, transportation, environment, culture and arts, development, governance, social inclusion, population movements.
Marmara Sea Symposium

Marmara Sea Symposium

The topics discussed and the papers presented in each of the Marmara Sea Symposiums were compiled and brought together with the readers from Marmara Municipalities Union Culture Publications.
Smart Cities Summit

Smart Cities Summit

A smart cities approach that aims to build sustainable cities that use all resources efficiently and offer high living standards to their residents.
World City Network Meeting

World City Network Meeting
Local Governments Finance Summit

Local Governments Finance Summit

Local Governments Finance Summit; It is an activity that aims to use financial resources more efficiently for municipalities and to reach different resources through alternative ways.
International Children’s City Congress

International Children’s City Congress

In addition to the evaluations of experts in the field, MMU carries out the activities of Children's City, which provides a platform for children to discuss their own needs and problems, with a participatory approach, with a congress program supported by workshops and workshops.
Mayors Summit

Mayors Summit

Organized by the Marmara Municipalities Union, the Mayors' Summit brings together the member mayors around an agenda that is determined every year.
Kebikeç Seminars

Kebikeç Seminars

This seminar series which sets out with questions such as “How works about books and libraries conducted in Turkey? How to suggest solutions to professional problems? ” aims to create a panorama of today’s different librarianship perspectives. The series include information about the models and traditions of librarianship in Turkey and in the world, various views on “books” as well as personal narratives on research methods.