Towards the November 2024 World Urban Forum in Cairo, and the Global Congress on Metropolitan Solutions, Barcelona, 2025, Heritopolis plans four events based on the MetroHub theme of the Power of Nature.

These four unique workshops will highlight particular issues and address the key themes of the Decade of Action including the localising of the Sustainable Development Goals and the role of heritage in the mitigation of and adaptation towards climate extremes:

• Istanbul Forum as part of Urban Metropolitan Day – 7^th October 2023
• Shanghai – Jiangnan culture organised by WHITR-AP /Tongji University in October 2023
• Guadalajara – culture and nature in climate extremes organised by the Universidad de Guadalajara in March 2024
• Mombasa – the tangible and intangible – Sheng organised by the Swahilipot and the Technical University of Mombasa in June 2024
• London – the urban national park city – organised by the London Heritopolis Hub in
• September 2024

In the wider context, Heritopolis seeks to explore key questions related to the metropolitan heritage for the 21^st century, such as:

• What makes for the identity of a metropolis, as a single unit or an agglomeration of communities?
• What is Metropolitan Heritage and the symbiotic connections between urban and rural[1]?
• What are the ways in which cultural heritage at the metropolitan level is perceived and used by the people?
• What are the policies, strategies and actions that create value of the metropolis?
• How may heritage be defined in a fast-changing metropolitan urban fabric and functions?
• What are the urban heritage categories, attributes and indicators for the metropolitan dimension?
• How can the application of digital knowledge, Big Data and other emerging technologies influence the management and the use of heritage in the metropolis?
• How cultural and natural heritage policies can transform cities to reach the New Urban Agenda goals?
• How can urban development strategies, policy regulations and incentives help to protect the values of heritage in a metropolitan setting?
• How tactical urbanism and urban regeneration can contribute to patrimonialize the metropolitan development?
• How different governance systems can integrate heritage into a growth agenda as an enabler of sustainable development?
• What is the economic rationale for balancing heritage investment within metropolises?
• How do communities (migrants, natives, creative class…) transform their living heritage thereby providing for social inclusion?
• How can the metropolis support the resilience of communities in social, environmental and economic instability through urban and rural identities and intangible heritage practices?
• Which new planning mechanisms can be applied to valorise heritage in the metropolitan development processes?

[1] Urban-rural Linkages: Guiding Principles https://unhabitat.org/urban-rural-linkages-guiding-principles