Bloomberg Philanthropies announced the 15 winning cities of the 2021-2022 Global Mayors Challenge, the fifth edition of the worldwide innovation competition that supports and spreads cities’ most promising ideas. These 15 winners are being recognized for designing the boldest and most ambitious urban innovations to emerge from the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Winners of the Global Mayors Challenge
The Winning Cities are Amman, Jordan; Bogotá, Colombia; Butuan, Philippines; Freetown, Sierra Leone; Hermosillo, Mexico; Istanbul, Turkey; Kigali, Rwanda; Kumasi, Ghana; Paterson, New Jersey, USA; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Rochester, Minnesota, USA; Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Rourkela, India; Vilnius, Lithuania; and Wellington, New Zealand. These cities are to receive $1 Million and Multi-Year Technical Support.
The 15 winning projects
Africa
- Freetown, Sierra Leone: Create a vibrant new digital marketplace supporting tree maintenance and the urban canopy using digital technologies
- Kigali, Rwanda: Introduce a smart-waste system that improves sanitation and water quality in the city
- Kumasi, Ghana: Address waste-management and youth unemployment crises by training young people to install toilets
Asia-Pacific
- Butuan, Philippines: Strengthen local food production by empowering farmers to make smarter decisions through a new agri-business model
- Rourkela, India: Provide cold-storage units to women co-ops to empower female food vendors, reduce food waste, and increase access to fresh foods
- Wellington, New Zealand: Create a “virtual twin” of the city that helps residents to better understand climate change impacts, promoting resident action
Europe
- Istanbul, Turkey: Foster city-wide mutual aid through a program that crowdsources contributions to meet basic needs for those in need
- Rotterdam, Netherlands: Use digital tokens to create incentives for local businesses to hire vulnerable residents
- Vilnius, Lithuania: Take lessons learned during Covid to create more resilient K-12 education models, especially those that tap the “city as a classroom”
South America
- Bogota, Colombia: Create “care blocks” that support female caretakers, shift more of the care burden to men, and shift more unpaid care work to paid care work
Middle East
- Amman, Jordan: Map available public assets and service infrastructure to improve the city’s emergency response and infrastructure investments
North America
- Hermosillo, Mexico: Create eco-friendly employment opportunities that benefit both the environment and underemployed women
- Paterson, New Jersey: Respond to residents struggling with Opioid Use Disorder by fulfilling requests for lifesaving medication within 90 minutes through a coordinated effort among police, first responders, hospitals, and pharmacies.
- Phoenix, Arizona: Combat rising unemployment – especially among people lacking Internet access – by creating mobile units that provide job seekers access to resources, training, and opportunities
- Rochester, Minnesota: Bring more women of color into high paying construction jobs by coordinating with contractors and facilitating trainings
