Last updated: 2023/04/18

Guangzhou Award

Guangzhou, China

Institution/Employer

Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation

Claim/Job description

Urban Award

Website

http://www.guangzhouaward.org/

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.

expertise & interests

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 Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte

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 Comprehensive Plan (La Línea Verde)

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 Boston

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 build a climate resilient Melbourne

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 Areas (PDP)

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 prevention & intervention centers for children and youths

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 sustainable place for all

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 with earthquakes

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 for Innovation and Creativity

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 “Climate Protection Concept Renewable Wilhelmsburg"

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 in Addis Ababa

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 strategy

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.

Guadalajara, Mexico

IMEPLAN

Citizen-led governance of the Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara

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

Busan, South Korea

Gamcheon Culture Village

A participatory cultural transformation project

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.

Bogotá, Colombia

LGBTI public policy

Promoting co-existence and respect for difference.

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.

Chongqing, China

Urban Medical Waste Disposal

Innovative Emergency Solutions during COVID-19.

Antananarivo, Madagascar

Better Food for Kids

Vegetable gardens in school yards

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

Breda, Netherlands

GreenQuays

Urban river regeneration through nature inclusive quays

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.

São José dos Pinhais, Brazil

SISS-Geo

A collaborative technology platform that monitors wildlife health risks

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

Gwangju, South Korea

GwanJuness Community Care

Protecting human dignity

Kampala, Uganda

The Weyonje app

Ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all

Antalya, Turkey

Eco-Friendly Farmer Card

Reducing the use of raw materials, conserving natural resources and contributing to the circular economy.

Mexico City, Mexico

UTOPÍAS

Transforming urban peripheries by regenerating public spaces

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