Invitation to the 2018 Guangzhou Award

The City of Guangzhou has the honor to inform the urban community that submission is now open for the fourth (2018) Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation (Guangzhou Award).

We would like to invite you to join us if your city or region is putting in place any initiatives under themes highlighted in Sustainable Development Goals (especially SDG 11) and New Urban Agenda. For the New Urban Agenda, special focus is being placed on urban planning and design, financing urban development, access to affordable housing, infrastructure, and services.

We want the world to learn from your experience in implementing the global agendas. Please share your wisdom with us and submit your initiatives online at https://apply.guangzhouaward.org by August 31, 2018.

"The Guangzhou Award is not only the way to showcase excellence in cities around the world," commented Mr. Josep Roig, former Secretary General of the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), "but should also foster exchanges and learning."

Initiated in 2012, the Guangzhou Award is sponsored by City of Guangzhou, UCLG and World Association of the Major Metropolises (Metropolis), and aims at advancing the prosperity and quality of life of the citizens of those and other cities.

The award, presented biennially, has received more than 700 initiatives from 70 plus countries and regions in the past three cycles. It recognizes innovation in improving social, economic, and environmental sustainability in cities and regions, and has provided a platform to share and exchange innovative practices.

During the last cycle in 2016, five cities/local governments made their way out of 301 applications to the Guangzhou Award, i.e. Songpa-gu (South Korea), Qalyubeya (Egypt), Boston (US), Copenhagen (Denmark), and La Paz (Bolivia), for their outstanding initiatives.

Up to five winning urban innovative initiatives will be determined by an independent Jury and will be awarded at the Guangzhou International Urban Innovation Conference, to be held in Guangzhou in December, 2018.

"The most important point of the set-up of the Guangzhou Award is that those awarded cases can inspire other cities and can be applied across various situations," said Mr. Nicholas You, Director of International Programs and Cooperation at Guangzhou Institute for Urban Innovation.

The award is developing an ongoing system of learning for cities around the world and encourages new methods to deal with social, economic, and environmental challenges.

For more information about the submission process, please visit https://www.guangzhouaward.org.