The 5th Guangzhou Award Shortlist Released in Guangzhou

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Feb 04, 2021, 04:55 ET

GUANGZHOU, China, Feb. 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Sustainable development is an essential issue in today's human society. The global spread of COVID-19 highlights the importance and urgency of sustainable development. A total of 273 initiatives from 175 cities and local governments in 60 countries and regions applied for the 5th Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation, which fully demonstrated global cities' determination to adhere to exchanges and cooperation under the epidemic. This meeting released the Technical Committee Meeting results of the 5th Guangzhou Award and announced the 15 shortlisted cities.

The 5th Guangzhou Award shortlisted cities released in Guangzhou

Guests include: Mr. Guan Litong, Deputy Director General of Department of European and Asian Affairs, the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries; Mr. Sun Xiuqing, Deputy Secretary General of Guangzhou Municipal Government; Ms. Emilia Saiz, Secretary-General of United Cities and Local Governments; Mr. Octavi de la Varga, Secretary General of Metropolis. Mr. Liu Baochun, Director General of Guangzhou Foreign Affairs Office, Metropolis Regional Secretary of Asia-Pacific, hosted the conference.

Many speakers mentioned that the Covid-19 pandemic has challenged our urban planning and governance. Ms. Saiz said that, the Covid-19 that the world is going through has changed the perceptions of many things and has impacted our economy and our society. It has also highlighted some of the changes that we need to make at local government level. Mr. Octavi said, "The Covid-19 pandemic has placed cities and city leaders at the forefront of the fight and in adapting policies, rethinking our urban development, and looking for creative solutions. And I think this is at the heart of the Guangzhou Award." Multiple speakers expressed their recognition on Guangzhou Award's achievement on urban governance innovation. In Mr. Guan Litong's speech, he remarked, despite the impact of the pandemic, the 5^th Guangzhou Award has progressed against the adversities. It fully demonstrated the international influence of the Guangzhou Award and the determination of global cities to cooperate and to develop under the pandemic. Mr. Sun Xiuqing praised Guangzhou Award for sticking to its mission and promote global urban governance and sustainable development, while combating the global pandemic.

Ms. Sylvia Croese, Chair of the Technical Committee of the 5^th Guangzhou Award, the Senior Researcher of the South African Research Chair in Spatial Analysis and City Planning from University of the Witwatersrand, reported on the initial assessment and announced the list of shortlisted cities. Subsequently, two of the Technical Committee members, Mr. Serge Salat, President of Urban Morphology and Complex Systems Institute in Paris, and Mr. Ali Cheshmehzangi, Head of the Department of Architecture and Built Environment and Director of the Centre for Sustainable Energy Technologies (CSET) of the University of Nottingham in Ningbo China, commented on the shortlisted initiatives.

The 15 shortlisted cities of the 5^th Guangzhou Award are: City of Unley, Australia; Wien, Austria; São José dos Pinhais, Brazil; Chongqing Municipality, China; Capital Region of Denmark, Denmark; Quito, Ecuador; All 114 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) of Odisha, India; Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC), India; Bandung City Government, Indonesia; Union of Municipalities, Lebanon; Municipality Of Antananarivo (Commune Urbaine d'Antananarivo, Madagascar; Breda, Netherlands; Departmental Council of Saint Louis, Senegal; City of Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa; Los Angeles, USA.

Finally, guests accepted interviews from several media and share different concepts and practices of urban innovation and sustainable development. They also give their opinion of the future trends of global urban governance and the renewing assessment of innovation. These ideas provided new insights for the exploration of future urban sustainable development.

Please find the lists of 15 Shortlisted Cities and 30 Deserving Cities as follows:

The 15 Shortlisted Cities of the 5th Guangzhou Award
No.	City/Local Government	Initiative
1.	City of Unley, Australia	Cohousing for Ageing Well – Designing Urban Infill for Ageing in Place
2.	Vienna, Austria	Werkstadt Junges Wien
3.	São José dos Pinhais, Brazil	Digital Technology and Social Participation in Surveillance and Definition of Priority Areas and Act
4.	Chongqing, China	Innovative Emergency Solutions to the Pandemic Challenge for Urban Medical Wastes Disposal
5.	Capital Region, Denmark	Cycle Superhighways in Capital Region of Denmark
6.	Quito, Ecuador	Eco-Efficiency Tool for the Metropolitan District of Quito
7.	All 114 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) of Odisha, India	The Urban Wage Employment Initiative – Reducing Vulnerabilities and Enhancing Resilience of the Urban
8.	Berhampur, India	Promoting Sustainable Environment Conservation and Women empowerment through Faecal Sludge and Septage Management (FSSM) in Berhampur
9.	Bandung City Government, Indonesia	The Roles of Public Health Service through OMABA Cooking Centre for Managing Malnourished and Stunting Children
10.	Union of Dannieh Municipalities, Lebanon	Engaging the Citizen to be Part of the Emergency Response Plan to Fight against COVID-19
11.	Municipality of Antananarivo, Madagascar	Building Resilience in the City Food System of Antananarivo through Adapted Production Systems: - Share and Learn about Urban Agriculture Practices through 'Mamboly Aho' (I FARM); - Monitoring the Local Food System (Implementing the MUFPP Monitoring Framework of Indicators); - Better Food for Kids: Vegetable Gardens in Schoolyards to Contribute to Better Nutrition for Children
12.	Breda, Netherlands	GreenQuays-Urban River Regeneration through Nature Inclusive Quays
13.	Departmental Council of Saint Louis, Senegal	Inter-municipal approach for the safeguard and enhancement of the Mangrove by the Local Authorities
14.	City of Cape Town, South Africa	Western Cape Industrial Symbiosis Programme (WISP) delivered by GreenCape
15.	Los Angeles, United States of America	Open-Source Tools for Action on the SDGs

The 30 deserving initiatives of the 5th Guangzhou Award
No.	Country/Region	Local Govt	Submission
1	Argentina	Buenos Aires	Buenos Aires' Barrio 31 Social & Urban Integration Plan
2	Argentina	Buenos Aires	BOTI' The Whatsapp chatbot of Buenos Aires City
3	Argentina	Rosario	Alliance for Local Food Policy Transformation in the Post-Pandemic World
4	Bangladesh	Singra Municipality	Promoting e-Rickshaws as Public Transport and e-Ambulance for Emergency Health Supporting Services
5	Colombia	Bogota City Hall	Bogotá's temporary cycle-tracks strategy is contributing to face the COVID19, fostering bike usage as a social distance instrument
6	Costa Rica	Curridabat	Curridabat, Sweet City: A Model of Urbanism Based on Pollinators and Ecosystem Services
7	Cuba	Trinidad	Local development from creative economies: 1. Agricultural development and zero km policies of gastronomy; 2. Crafts and traditional habitat development
8	Denmark	Copenhagen	Copenhagen Cloudburst Management Plan, managing heavy rains and stormwater in Copenhagen
9	Egypt	Aswan	City of Development, creativity and renewable energy
10	France	Paris	The Oasis schoolyard Project
11	Germany	Senate of Berlin	Easy-to-access information strategy on the Corona virus for refugees and immigrant communities in Berlin
12	India	Puri Municipality	DRINK FROM TAP MISSION – Pure for Sure Drinking Water delivered to each Home 24X7
13	Iran (Islamic Republic of)	Tehran Municipality	Preparation of neighborhood Risk Mitigation Plan against Natural Hazards
14	Isreal	Netanya	a breakthrough city and serves as an example to many local authorities when it comes to urban innovation
15	Japan	Yokohama, Kanagawa	SDGs Future City Yokohama
16	Korea (the Republic of)	changwon city	Green Hydrogen City of Changwon, the New Hydrogen-centered City of Changwon
17	Korea (the Republic of)	City of Suwon	SMART RAIN CITY SUWON
18	Korea (the Republic of)	Goyang city	The 'world first innnovation' series of Goyang city to respond to COVID-19
19	Korea (the Republic of)	Jeonju	COVID-19 Reaction Policy of Jeonju
20	Korea (the Republic of)	Songpa-gu	Smart Doctor
21	Mexico	Guadalajara	Metropolitan Agency for Urban Forests of the Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara (AMBU)
22	Morocco	Conseil Régional de l'Oriental	Morocco-Conseil Regional de l'Oriental-Territorial Coaching Program: accelerator of change at the service of citizens
23	Netherlands	Kerkrade	Super Circular Estate
24	Poland	City of Gdynia	Gdynia: the learning city at home. Municipal institutions and units in contact with Gdynia's citizens
25	Senegal	Departmental Council of Kaolack	Moving from a poor and neglected economic sector to a renewed and development-promoting sector
26	Senegal	Tivaouane	Preservation of an agricultural environmental Promotion of sustainable and decent employment for young people
27	South Africa	Gauteng Provincial Government	Quality of Life in the Gauteng City- Region: a partnership-based approach to understanding: 1. The Gauteng City-Region Observatory's biennial Quality of Life survey; 2. Data-driven support of government decision making and relationship-building in managing, mitigating ; 3. Enhancing and monitoring multidimensional well-being through a single index measure
28	Turkey	Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality	Oğuzeli Central Biogas Power Plant
29	Turkey	Kahramanmaras Metropolitan Municipality	SMART ELDER CARE SYSTEM (YADES)
30	United Arab Emirates	Dubai	Role of Dubai Municipality in mitigating impact of COVID-19 pandemic via Artificial Intelligence