أحدث منشورات Ali Naddeh على لينكدإن

I applied to volunteer at WUF13 not knowing if I’d be selected. When the confirmation came, it wasn’t just excitement. It was the beginning of a journey I hadn’t expected. On day one, I put on this uniform and walked into the accreditation area. Around me, people were already in motion. Each one knowing what to d…

10 days in Baku. More than 57,000 participants. 176 countries. One theme: Housing the World. The largest World Urban Forum in history, and I was in the room. I came as an urban planner from Al Ain. I left with one clear thought: When 176 countries gather around one urban challenge, you don’t get one answer. You…

A city does not only host a forum. It becomes part of the conversation. Last week, I was in Baku for WUF13, as a participant and as a volunteer. Two ways of seeing the same event. One from inside the forum, where the theme says it all: 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱: 𝗦𝗮𝗳𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲…

Cities protect what they name. Walking in Al Ain, a metal tag on a Ghaf tree stopped me mid-walk. Only native trees get this. A name. A code. An identity. The Ghaf has lived here for centuries — and in the UAE, it carries more than ecological value. It carries memory. This tree was given a number: 𝗔𝗔𝗠-𝗚𝗛-𝟵𝟰…

10 days in Baku. More than 57,000 participants. 176 countries. One theme: Housing the World. The largest World Urban Forum in history, and I was in the room. I came as an urban planner from Al Ain. I left with one clear thought: When 176 countries gather around one urban challenge, you don’t get one answer. You…

I’ve walked through cities that left no trace. And others I still carry. Not because of what I saw,  but because of who I met inside them. The late-night walk that turned into a conversation you still think about. The corner you kept returning to,  not for the place, but for the person. The familiar face that be…