The Guangzhou Award Is Open for the Initiatives Against the COVID-19

The year 2020 marks the 5th cycle of the Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation (Guangzhou Award). The Guangzhou Award serves as a platform for the sharing and exchange of innovative practices in the local implementation of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and New Urban Agenda (NUA). Its objective is to contribute to the creation of inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities and human settlements.

Unfortunately, the beginning of the year saw the whole world affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. There is no doubt that the pandemic has also exposed and highlighted a lot of problems in achieving the SDGs, especially Goal 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 and 10. Therefore, besides other urban innovation initiatives, cities and regions are also most welcome to share their initiatives in responding to the pandemic. We are all too aware of the delicate balance between containment and mitigation, and the transition from emergency response and mitigation to recovery. Applications are also welcome with forward looking post COVID-19 initiatives regarding how cities and regions are rethinking their local governance mechanisms, reconsidering the urban morphology and typology, addressing the problems exposed, and improving the resilience of urban economy. (Please see attached 'The 5th Guangzhou Award and COVID-19'.)

The Guangzhou Award invites your city or region to submit ongoing or recently completed innovative initiatives related to the themes highlighted by the SDGs and the commitments of NUA. Join us and share your experience with the sustainable development community worldwide!

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have launched a series of initiatives, in collaboration with UCLG and other partners, to provide support and knowledge to address new urban challenges. The Cities for Global Health platform and the Live Learning Experience, amongst others, are key tools for local governments to focus their actions in this period.

In line with that, the Guangzhou Award recognizes the unique challenges of this crisis and its scope has been expanded to include the learning about the measures your local authority undertook or is undertaking in terms of policies, strategies and administrative procedures.

The 2020 Guangzhou Award will put special emphasis on forward-looking initiatives addressing the following areas:

•          the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis on the exacerbation of social, gender and racial inequalities in cities;

•          improving the resilience of the urban economy and reducing the risk of failure.

•          rethinking local governance mechanisms including the respective roles and responsibilities between different departments, sectors and tiers of government;

•          rethinking urban morphology and typology including new perspectives on density, compactness and mobility;

About the Guangzhou Award

The Guangzhou Award is co-sponsored by United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), World Association of the Major Metropolises (Metropolis), and City of Guangzhou, and supported by ICLEI and C40. The award aims to recognize innovation in improving social, economic and environmental sustainability in cities and regions and, in so doing, to advance the prosperity and quality of life of their citizens.

Eligibility

The Guangzhou Award is open to all local governments worldwide, including members of UCLG, Metropolis, ICLEI and C40.

Assessment Criteria

The criteria that are applied to the Guangzhou Award assessment include: innovativeness, effectiveness, replicability/transferability, significance and relevance of the initiative to the Sustainable Development Goals and the New Urban Agenda.

What to expect

●       Up to 15 shortlisted cities and up to 30 deserving cities will be discerned and selected by the Technical Committee. All 45 cities will be featured in specialized publications and many will be invited to share their experiences in international events.

●       2 representatives of each of the 15 shortlisted cities will be invited to share lessons learned at the International Seminar on Learning from Urban Innovation. This seminar will be held under the framework of the 'Global Mayors Forum 2020, XIII METROPOLIS World Congress 2020, UCLG World Council Meetings 2020 & 2020 Guangzhou Award'.

●       Up to 5 winners among the shortlisted cities will be selected by the Jury and each will be granted US$ 20,000, a trophy and a commemorative certificate; shortlisted cities other than the winners will be granted Medals of Honour.

●       The shortlisted city that obtains the most votes in the 'Online Vote: The City of Your Choice' will be recognized as the 'Online Popular City'.

16.06.2020

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