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Cities and metropolitan spaces around the world can promote their innovative initiatives on an international scale, and receive recognition and acclaim for them.

The Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation aims to recognise urban innovation by local and regional governments to improve social, economic and environmental sustainability, and to acknowledge good urban and metropolitan governance in cities and regions. In doing so, the award hopes to advance the prosperity and quality of life of citizens.

So far, over 70 local and regional governments have submitted their innovative initiatives, covering more than 40 countries around the world. Interested applicants should apply for the award online before 23:59:59, 31 October 2020 (UTC+8:00), and those who submit their application before the early bird deadline, next 30 September 2020, will benefit from feedback and advice on how to improve their submissions.

Award Ceremony of the 4th Guangzhou Award

Now in its 5th edition in 2020, the biennial Guangzhou Award will put special emphasis on forward-looking initiatives that: address the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis and the exacerbation of social, gender and racial inequalities in cities; improve the resilience of the urban economy and reduce the risk of failure; rethink local governance mechanisms including the respective roles and responsibilities of different government departments, sectors and tiers; and that rethink urban morphology and typology, including new perspectives on density, compactness and mobility.

What does the award have in store?

-    Up to 15 shortlisted cities and up to 30 commendable cities will be chosen by the Technical Committee. All 45 cities will be featured in specialised 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. 

-    Up to 5 winners from the shortlisted cities will be chosen by the Jury and each will be awarded USD 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 “Online Vote: The City of Your Choice” will be awarded the title of “Online Popular City”.

As one of the main partners in the Guangzhou Award, at Metropolis we encourage metropolises around the world to submit ongoing or recently completed innovative initiatives related to the topics highlighted by the Sustainable Development Goals and the commitments of the New Urban Agenda (NUA).

In May 2020, the City of Guangzhou organised a composition competition, which invited the public to write the official theme song for the Award. Voice of Guangzhou, a song that fuses Cantonese opera with rap music, was chosen from 18 finalists out of 201 submissions and won the final competition, which concluded on 21 August. You can find the winning song for the Award by clicking here.

If you have any questions or require further information, please contact the Guangzhou Award Secretariat: 
www.guangzhouaward.org / info@guangzhouaward.org

More details can be found in the following attached files:

Rules and Procedures
Submission Guidelines (Updated on 29 May 2020)
Application form (Updated on 29 May 2020)
The 5th Guangzhou Award and COVID-19
FAQ about the 5th Guangzhou Award