Last updated: 2023/04/18
Guangzhou Award
Guangzhou, China
Institution/Employer
Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation
Claim/Job description
Urban Award
Website
The Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation
The Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation celebrates exceptional advancements in urban sustainability and development. Established in 2012, this biennial award is co-hosted by the City of Guangzhou, UCLG (United Cities and Local Governments) and Metropolis (World Association of the Major Metropolises). The Award aims to highlight innovative urban solutions that address social, economic, and environmental challenges, and promote the sharing of knowledge and best practices among cities across the globe.
Every two years, the Guangzhou Award recognizes five winning projects that demonstrate significant impact, creativity, and scalability in addressing urban challenges. These projects are chosen from a pool of submissions from cities and local governments worldwide. By showcasing inspiring and transformative initiatives, the award serves as a platform for encouraging collaboration and fostering dialogue on sustainable urban development.
As a leading event in the field of urban sustainability, the Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation also hosts a series of activities, such as forums, workshops, and exhibitions. These events provide opportunities for participating cities and local governments to engage in discussions, exchange ideas, and learn from each other's experiences in developing innovative strategies to tackle pressing urban issues. Through the celebration of urban innovation, the Guangzhou Award ultimately supports the global community's efforts to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and create more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable cities for the future.
Case studies from Guangzhou Award
Lilongwe, Malawi
Johannesburg-Lilongwe Mentorship Programme
Lilongwe City Development Strategy has been developed through an innovative Mentorship Programme with the City of Johannesburg
Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Urban Solid Waste Management in the Metropolita...
An inter-federation model make feasible for the municipalities to manage their waste in an integrated way.
Hangzhou, China
Urban Public Bicycle Sharing Program
With 80 percent of residents and commuters identifying a serious traffic problem in the city, Hangzhou launched China's first public bicycle project. Serving some 280,000 passengers daily, the system (free for the first hour) complements the city's extensive bus system.
Dakar, Senegal
Municipal Finance Program
Under the leadership of the Municipal Council of Dakar, the Dakar Municipal Finance Program (DMFP) has been developed to enable the City of Dakar to gain access to capital markets for its investment needs.
Antioquia (Departement), Colombia
Educational Parks for Youth
Building on a widely-hailed experiment in Medellin, the entire surrounding province of Antioquia has set up a network of 80 educational parks designed to supplement traditional education with programs to honor young peoples' inherent skills and citizenship potentials.
Bristol, United Kingdom
Smart City Bristol
Bristol's innovative approach to becoming a smart city is based on people and not on technology: a Public-Private-People approach. Projects to date include smart metering, open data, smart grid and electric vehicles which build on the City's strengths in micro-electronic and digital companies.
Christchurch, New Zealand
Transitional City Programme
A transitional city programme includes support for recovery after earthquakes in three key areas: social, sense of place and business. The programme also contains elements for long-term recovery such as testing new ideas, enhancing community resilience and creating a new identity for the city.
Dakar, Senegal
Dakar paving streets by hands
The program aims at modernizing and embellishing the city of Dakar while more than 1,500 employments can be created.
Aguascalientes City, Mexico
The Green Line: Social Development Comprehensiv...
The aim of the Línea Verde is to provide public spaces that contribute to enhance community life for more than 300,000 inhabitants living in the poorest area of the city.
Boston, United States
Youth Lead the Change: Participatory Budgeting ...
Through this participatory budgeting program, youth had the opportunity to collect ideas for capital projects, distill those ideas into concrete proposals, hold a city-wide vote to determine which projects get funded, and directly determine how $1 million is spent to improve Boston for everyone.
Melbourne , Australia
4°C Cooler – Using green infrastructure to buil...
In 2010 the city of Melbourne appointed a new Urban Landscape Team to produce a Green Infrastructure Program to cope with a difficult future climate and maintain its economic prosperity and liveability.
Tallinn, Estonia
Free Public Transport in Tallinn
In January 2013 the capital of Estonia made a shift to free public transport and became the world's largest city to offer free transit for all its residents.
Cairo, Egypt
Participatory Development Programme in Urban Ar...
This project advises concepts and methods of participatory community development and grass roots based waste management in informal urban areas.
Seoul , South Korea
"I Will Centers" - Internet addiction preventio...
The goal of this initiative is to create Seoul as a healthy and safe area for children and adolescents in terms of internet use.
Vancouver, Canada
Visionary Vancouver: creating a welcoming and s...
The City of Vancouver has been awarded in 2012 the Guangzhou Award for Urban Innovation in recognition of its Greenest City and housing affordability initiatives.
Kocaeli (Province), Turkey
"Prepare before it’s too late": learn to live w...
After the Marmara earthquake in 1999, the City of Kocaeli decided that living with risk cannot be business as usual. The city is using risk mapping to revisit its development priorities. Moreover, the city is engaging the community in innovative public awareness efforts.
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Estidama Sustainability Program
In one of the world’s most rapidly growing cities, a new government-mandated program – Estidama (Arabic for “sustainable”) - aims at making all new buildings in the United Arab Emirates more environmentally responsible and sustainable.
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Buenos Aires City’s Collaborative Roundtable fo...
The central idea of these roundtables is to engage a frank dialogue between the municipality and its citizens and to stimulate imaginative and innovative actions by senior officials.
Linköping, Sweden
Linköping Carbon Neutral 2025
In 2011 the Municipal Council adopted its long-term climate goal to make Linköping a carbon-neutral community by 2025.
Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
Rio Operations Center
The Rio Operations Center's responsibility is to control the city's daily operations, integrating several departments involved in Rio's routine; and to manage crisis and emergency situations.
Eskisehir, Turkey
Eskisehir City Memory Museum
Eskishir has created a Memory Museum that combines museology with modern technology. The museum is designed with a new concept by which memory elements are recorded in a digital environment, rather than exhibited as artistic or historical objects.
Gwangju, South Korea
Gwangju Carbon Bank system
In 2008, the City of Gwangju has initiated a program to spark voluntary carbon-saving steps by citizens. Five years later, 1.5 million Gwangju citizens were already participating or 62 percent of the city’s population.
Jakarta, Indonesia
Pluit Reservoir Revitalization Project
The Pluit Reservoir Revitalization Project is an initiative of the city of Jakarta to reduce urban flooding, improve water storage capacity and the quality of its prime water source.
Hamburg, Germany
The International Building Exhibition and its “...
In 2005 Hamburg decided to support the redevelopment of the Wilhelmsburg neighborhood through hosting the International Building and the International Garden Show (IBA).
Bogotá, Colombia
Zero Waste Program
The Zero Waste Program aims to reduce waste and increase recycling by formalization of the labour force and the introduction of education and training programs for workers and the community.
Malmö, Sweden
Climate Smart Hyllie
Hyllie is Malmö's largest residential and commercial development area. By 2030, Hyllie will be 100% sustained by renewable or recycled energy, achieved by using integrated new and smart technology solutions.
Petaling Jaya, Malaysia
Greening The Grassroots in Petaling Jaya
Based on business and community participation, the Greening The Grassroots programme will assist with the transformation of Petaling Jaya into a low carbon city by 2020 with government support.
Vancouver, Canada
West End Community Plan
The West End Community Plan provides a clear and flexible framework to implement positive change and sustainable development.
Dubuque, United States
Smarter Sustainable Dubuque
Smarter Sustainable Dubuque is a partnership between the City of Dubuque and IBM Research to pilot an integrated, cross-silo initiative for managing resources and reducing carbon emissions.
Sylhet, Bangladesh
Sylhet : building a water-logging resilient city
A community based initiative to raise awareness and ensure preservation of natural water resources through sustainable drainage systems that will help eradicate water-logging in the city of Sylhet.
Lusaka, Zambia
Lusaka 2030 - a city without slums
Building a sustainable working relationship between local government and slum dwellers to create an inclusive city.
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Development of a sustainable transport system i...
Addis Ababa’s light rail and bus rapid transit project addresses the challenges rising from an ageing transport system combined with a fast-growing population to ensure a prosperous, equitable, and sustainable city for the future.
Seoul , South Korea
Songpa Solar Nanum (Sharing) Power Plant
The Songpa Solar Nanum Power Plants aim to create a sustainable environment with community support, by implementing energy efficient projects with a focus on citizen welfare.
La Paz, Bolivia
La Paz Road Zebras: A Citizen Culture Project
The City of La Paz’s Zebra project employs marginalized youth and young adults to deliver a road sharing education programme aimed at pedestrians and drivers.
Copenhagen, Denmark
Copenhagen Climate-Resilient Neighbourhood stra...
Initiatives for climate change adaptation are being implemented in Copenhagen's St. Kjelds’ neighbourhood. More green spaces and innovative cloudburst solutions will increase the area’s resilience against flooding and improve life quality for residents.
Cairo, Egypt
Integrated Community Based Solid Waste Management
The Qalyubeya Governate aims to improve waste collection services in the Egyptian cities of Khosoos and Khanka, while simultaneously advancing the working conditions of the informal workforce who provide collection services.
Ramallah, Palestine
Smart City, Freedom through Technology project
Ramallah is deploying smart technologies to engage with citizens and improve quality and accessibility of services.
New York City, United States
Global Vision | Urban Action program
New York City’s Voluntary Local Review of the Sustainable Development Goals shows local progress for global action.
Wuhan, China
Bridging social gaps with ecological restoration
The City of Wuhan has revitalized one of the most polluted areas of the city into an ecological space for citizens.
Milan, Italy
The Milan Food Policy
An innovative framework for making urban food systems more sustainable and inclusive.
Mezitli, Turkey
Mezitli Women Producers Market
Providing sustainable economic and social opportunities for women
Sydney, Australia
Green Square
From a rich industrial past to a vibrant sustainable and connected community
Utrecht, Netherlands
Utrecht: A Global Goals City
Localizing the SDG’s through multi-stakeholder partnerships
Surabaya, Indonesia
3R– reduce, reuse, recycle
Public, private and citizen participation in local waste management solutions.
Santa Ana, Costa Rica
Santa Ana en Cleta
Women Leading the charge for sustainable change in the city's mobility culture.
Yiwu, China
One-stop model for provision of municipal services
An initiative to assist businesspeople navigating life in Yiwu.
Brussels Capital Region, Belgium
Canal Plan
An innovative planning approach for the Brussels Capital Region
Isfahan, Iran
Revitalizing “sick” buildings
Making the urban fabric of the city safe and sustainable.
Seoul , South Korea
Citizen-led urban regeneration policy
Creating positive communities with sustainable urban growth.
City of Unley, Australia
Co-housing for Ageing Well
A collaborative housing model to assist older people to stay living in their communities.
Odisha, India
Urban Wage Employment Initiative
Reducing vulnerabilities and improving opportunities of the urban poor.
The Capital Region of Denmark, Denmark
Cycle Superhighways
Long, cohesive cycle routes linking urban areas and workplaces across municipal borders.
Quito, Ecuador
Eco Efficiency policy
Building a sustainable city around the existing public transport system
Cape Town, South Africa
Western Cape Industrial Symbiosis Programme
Building resilience by improving resource efficiency, stimulating economic growth and job creation.
Los Angeles , United States
Open-source tools for action on the SDGs
Advancing the SDGs by measuring local progress and building new partnerships for action.
Guangzhou, China
Guangzhou Ecological Belt Master Plan
A blue-green infrastructure network to improve the environment
Union of Dannieh Municipalities, Lebanon
Crisis Cell in Dannieh
Citizen engagement in COVID-19 emergency response plan
Vienna, Austria
Werkstadt Junges Wien (Young Vienna Workshop)
A participative process to develop a Children and Youth Strategy for Vienna.
Department of St. Louis, Senegal, Senegal
Securing the future of Mangroves
Inter-municipal approach for the protection and enhancement of the Mangrove ecosystem
Bandung, Indonesia
OMABA: Supplementary Food Recovery Program
A Public health initiative to support malnourished children and improve nutrition options for young people.
Xianning, China
Improving Traffic Safety near Schools
A low-carbon initiative to change travel behaviours
Kampala, Uganda
The Weyonje app
Ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
