NEWS

         

A reference for the localization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Solutions for and by Cities builds on the knowledge of the shortlisted initiatives of the 4th edition of the Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation. Available in English, Chinese, French and Spanish, it can be downloaded for free from our metropolitan library.

The publication features the chronicles of the initiatives that led 15 local and regional governments to be shortlisted for the last edition of the Guangzhou Award, celebrated in 2018. It features the cases of Metropolis members eThekwini, Guadalajara, Kazan, Surabaya, Wuhan and Yiwu, and of nine other cities. These experiences have been selected out of 313 submissions from 213 local and regional governments in over 70 different countries, by an independent gender-balanced technical committee, composed of eleven experts with various professional backgrounds and a wide range of expertise, coming from different parts of the world.

“The lessons of these peer reviewed policies are huge. Disseminating them through this publication, we share with the world innovative solutions frameworks to accelerate the learning processes of cities and metropolises, and promote the localisation of the SDGs”, said Agnès Bickart, Senior Manager for Institutional relations & Asia portfolio at the Metropolis Secretariat General, who edited the publication.

Each case described in Solutions for and by Cities is directly linked to specific SDGs, and can be further completed by a thorough in-depth analysis available at the use platform. To enhance the learning processes from these experiences, Metropolis will develop training modules that shall be available online from mid-September this year.

The publication was announced first-hand by Mr Liu Baochun, Metropolis Regional Secretary for Asia and the Pacific, Mr Nicholas You, Executive Director for the Guangzhou Institute for Urban Innovation, and Ms Emilia Saiz, UCLG Secretary General, at the session “Peer-reviewed Case of Urban Innovation” organized by the People’s Government of Guangzhou Municipality during the UN-Habitat Assembly held in Nairobi last May 29.

“What is already clear from this snapshot of 15 local initiatives from around the world is that cities and regions are finding new ways to solve old problems whilst positioning themselves to address new challenges arising from the mega-trends of urbanization, globalization and climate change”, said Mr You.

A key driver of the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and implementation of the New Urban Agenda, urban innovation is at the core of the Metropolis work on urban diplomacy and metropolitan advocacy. Metropolis Urban Innovation is a program led by the People’s Government of Guangzhou Municipality that encompasses the biennial Guangzhou Award and the Guangzhou Institute for Urban Innovation, and allows cities around the world to learn from each other and solve their problems with local resources and applied global knowledge.

About the Guangzhou Award

Convened biennially since 2012, the Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation (Guangzhou Award) has consolidated itself as the main reference on urban innovation for Metropolis and United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG).

The fifth edition of the Guangzhou Award will take place next year, and submissions will be open in the first months of 2020. After a thorough selection process, the award ceremony will be held in Guangzhou between October 28 and 30, 2020.

For more details on the Metropolis Urban Innovation program and the Guangzhou Award, please contact Ms Agnès Charlotte Bickart at the Metropolis Secretariat General.