New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani opened a three-day Urban 20 summit on Saturday, welcoming mayors from around the world to discuss housing, climate and migration, though much of the day’s proceedings were closed to the press and several meeting locations went undisclosed.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani opened a three-day international summit on Saturday, hosting mayors and city leaders from across the globe as part of the Urban 20 (U20) initiative. In his opening remarks, Mamdani said the gathering would focus on “practical solutions” to challenges including “rising housing costs, the climate crisis and migration,” according to a statement released by his office. The event, co-hosted with Los Angeles, is expected to bring together 25 mayors and leaders representing 34 cities worldwide, though much of Saturday’s programme was closed to the press and several meeting locations were not disclosed.
What the U20 summit is
Urban 20, or U20, is an established city diplomacy initiative linked to the G20, bringing together mayors and city leaders from major global economies to discuss shared urban challenges. It is not a new body created by Mamdani; the initiative has run for several years, with previous summits involving mayors from cities including Paris, Tokyo, Rome and Buenos Aires. The 2026 process is being jointly hosted by New York City and Los Angeles, with the current summit running over three days.
Limited press access to Saturday’s events
Only a small number of media outlets were permitted to attend Mamdani’s opening remarks, and the location of the address was not made public. According to the mayor’s published schedule, he was also due to visit an undisclosed wastewater treatment facility alongside Helsinki Mayor Daniel Sazanov, Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni and Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri, with approved footage of the visit to be released later in the day. The schedule further noted that Mamdani planned to hold private meetings at undisclosed locations with Collboni and Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema.
Closed-door sessions of this kind are common practice at U20 gatherings, where city leaders often discuss policy away from the media, while selected speeches, meetings and outcomes are released publicly. What has drawn particular attention in this case is the limited access granted to some of Mamdani’s individual engagements and the absence of published locations for certain meetings.
Mamdani’s opening remarks
Addressing delegates, Mamdani welcomed both domestic and international leaders to New York, saying that the cities represented shared common goals, including efforts to make urban living more affordable, respond to “the growing impact of the climate crisis,” and resist political movements he said sought to “demonize and terrorize immigrants.” He said: “As we hold panels, conversations and plenary sessions, my sincere hope is that this conference marks only the beginning of a new era of cooperation and emulation.” Footage of his remarks was subsequently posted on social media.
Wide international participation
The 2026 summit’s programme lists participants from a broad range of cities spanning several continents, including New York, Los Angeles, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Rome, Helsinki, Jakarta, Mexico City, Paris, Tokyo, Johannesburg, São Paulo and Buenos Aires. Among those reportedly attending are Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung and Mexico City’s Head of Government, Clara Brugada. Los Angeles Deputy Mayor of International Affairs Dilpreet Sidhu also addressed the gathering and is serving alongside Mamdani as co-chair of the summit. Representatives for Mamdani did not respond to requests for comment.
A broader policy agenda
While housing and climate feature prominently in the mayor’s public remarks, the summit’s official agenda covers a wider range of urban priorities, including affordable and accessible housing, climate action and resilience, inclusive economic growth, migration and integration, urban infrastructure, and the financing of sustainable development. The co-hosting arrangement between New York and Los Angeles is intended to allow both cities to address their own urban policy challenges while coordinating with international counterparts, with the summit also designed to produce recommendations that can feed into the broader G20 process.
