2015 is an important year for Indonesia towards Habitat III. Indonesia was given the opportunity to host several agendas towards Habitat III. In preparation for these various activities, there was the initiation of a new national urban forum, one of which was the holding of the National Urban Forum (NUF). For the first time, Indonesia is holding a national urban forum which is a multi-stakeholder meeting forum to discuss urban issues, various experiences regarding urban development approaches, as well as best practices in the field of settlements and urban development in Indonesia.

This NUF was implemented by the Directorate of Building and Environmental Planning on May 28 2015 with the theme "Towards Indonesia New Urban Agenda" by highlighting innovative ideas that enable existing cities to accommodate the needs of an increasing population. NUF is a series of "Water, Sanitation, and Cities" events which focus on basic facilities and infrastructure services and cities in Indonesia which took place on 27-29 May 2015.

NUF was held with the aim of building mutual understanding and formulating a New Urban Agenda for Indonesia which will later be presented at The High Level Asia-Pacific Regional Meeting for Habitat III and the 6th Asia-Pacific Urban Forum in October 2015 in Jakarta, before the Preparatory Committee event. (PrepCom) 3 in 2016 in Surabaya. Considering the importance of Indonesia's role at the Asia Pacific level, this NUF activity is an important momentum as an initial step in formulating the New Urban Agenda in Indonesia which is expected to be held regularly as a forum for national urban development.

In 2023, NUF will be held again as a form of inclusive forum to discuss complex urban issues. Collaborative efforts in this second NUF have been carried out since the beginning of 2023 to establish networking across stakeholders from various fields which has reached more than 40 agencies from Ministries/institutions, regional governments, academics, professionals, communities, NGOs, as well as the private sector and donor agencies.

This networking resulted in a number of substantial activities in the form of workshops, webinars and dialogues, which were disseminated through social media channels such as YouTube and Instagram. This series of activities is aimed at obtaining input from various stakeholders, gaining a diversity of points of view in understanding complex urban issues, and finding joint solutions.

Image of the drafting team in the 2nd NUF in 2023

Considering the important role of cities which will be the residence of the majority of the population in the future, there are 5 working groups (WG) in NUF adopting the structure from Habitat III as follows:

1. Equality and social cohesion, including issues regarding urban culture and heritage;
2. Urban economics and framework;
3. Spatial development;
4. Urban ecology and environment; as well as
5. Housing and basic infrastructure, including issues regarding transportation and smart cities.

Organizing the NUF event is a milestone in the implementation of national urban policy and is an instrument in the form of implementing the New Urban Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals in Indonesia.