The Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation (Guangzhou Award) aims to promote the exchange of best practices in global urban governance. In doing so, it seeks to enhance the prosperity and quality of life for all urban inhabitants, as urban innovation not only fosters sustainable global development but also impacts our daily lives.
The sixth edition of the Guangzhou Award received a total of 274 initiatives from 193 cities and local governments in 54 countries and regions. Out of these submissions, 15 cities were selected as standout preselected cities following the evaluation by the Technical Committee. The Award is co-sponsored by UCLG, Metropolis, and Guangzhou, with the support of ICLEI and C40.
Bogotá submitted its application for the 2023 Guangzhou Award with the theme "Bogotá Care Blocks – How a city is reorganizing itself for women and achieving the SDGs." With this initiative, the Colombian capital was preselected alongside 14 other cities.
"The Bogotá Care System aims to address the lack of opportunities and low income levels of all female caregivers in the city. Organized into 'Care Blocks,' its primary goal is to make effective use of social infrastructure and thus offer three essential services to these women: time and services for them, providing them with the possibility to rest from their caregiving duties; completing their studies and having job opportunities to generate income; and achieving a cultural transformation where men also learn to perform caregiving tasks," highlighted Mayor Claudia López.
The award is typically granted to 5 cities. To promote knowledge exchange, the final evaluation for the 2023 Guangzhou Award has been designed as international seminars. Therefore, over the next 3 weeks, until November 30th (UTC+8), people from around the world can vote for the most outstanding urban initiative. On December 7th, the winning city will be honored with the 6th Guangzhou Award, which, for this edition, recognizes innovation in improving social, economic, and environmental sustainability, as well as good governance in cities and regions.
The public can vote for the projects at:https://vote.guangzhouaward.org/vote.html
The finalist cities include: Bogotá, Colombia; Xianning, China; Kazan, Russia; Tehran, Iran; Cape Town, South Africa; Ramallah, Palestine; Jakarta, Indonesia; Gwangju, Korea; Pimpri Chinchwad, India; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Kampala, Uganda; Antalya, Turkey; Mannheim, Germany; Halandri, Greece; and Iztapalapa, Mexico.
