Archinect - News

São Paulo named Grand Prize Winner in 2016 Mayors Challenge

2016-12-01T18:45:00-05:00

As part of this year’s Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayors Challenge, the Brazilian megacity drafted a proposal for a digital interchange platform designed to connect vendors with restaurants, markets, and other retailers in an effort to make it easier for them to sell their wares. On Wednesday, São Paulo’s proposal was named the winner of the third ever Mayors Challenge, which gives it a $5 million cash prize to implement the idea.

"Four other cities will also receive $1 million each to implement their respective proposals. The winners include two Colombian cities, Medellín and Bogotá, as well as Santiago, Chile, and Guadalajara, Mexico."

Click here to learn more about the winning proposal "São Paulo: Growing Farmers’ Income, Shrinking Urban Sprawl."

Barcelona wins Grand Prize in Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Mayors Challenge for Europe

2014-09-23T21:32:00-04:00

Michael Bloomberg's Bloomberg Philanthropies revealed the winners of its first European edition of the Mayors Challenge. More than 150 top cities from 28 European nations entered the competition, which asked participants to send their most innovative ideas that address Europe's timely pressing issues like unemployment, energy efficiency, obesity, aging, and improving government efficiency.

Barcelona took the Grand Prize for Innovation and €5 million to help implement their proposal, Collaborative Care Networks for Better Aging, a digital and community "trust network" for each of its at-risk elderly residents.

Innovation prizes of €1 million were also given to the following cities:

Athens, Greece: Synathina, a Public Platform for Engaged Citizens
Kirklees, in Yorkshire, United Kingdom: Kirklees Shares
Stockholm, Sweden: Biochar - for a Better City Ecosystem
Warsaw, Poland: Virtual Warsaw - Urban Information System for the Visually Impaired

In addition to prize money, each winning city will receive technical assistance, expert coaching, and a trophy specially designed by renowned artist Olafur Eliasson.

Michael Bloomberg congratulated Barcelona via a surprise phone call from Paris in the video below.

Learn more about the winning ideas on Bustler.

Behind the Scenes at Bloomberg’s Ideas Camp for Cities

2014-07-21T13:29:00-04:00

Serious money is in play in the Bloomberg Philanthropies’ “Mayors’ Challenge” for cities competing to show they have come up with promising innovations to cope with 21st-century challenges. “It was a big surprise to hear we’d share our ideas with competitors,” says Gomes. “But it works brilliantly. It’s exactly what you need—everyone sharing and trying to help each other. It’s crazy, but it works.”

Previously:

How the Bloomberg Mayors Challenge Is Being Received in Europe

2014-06-27T13:09:00-04:00

Can a U.S. organization really tell Europe how to run its cities better? [...] Following a successful inaugural challenge last year, the city innovation contest crossed the Atlantic in 2014, winnowing down European applicant cities to a shortlist of 21*, all of whom attended a two-day Ideas Camp staged in Berlin earlier this month. [...] A European organization could not realistically offer anything as substantial as €9 million in prize money.

Previously: Twenty-one finalists for the Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Mayors Challenge Competition in Europe

Twenty-one finalists for the Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Mayors Challenge Competition in Europe

2014-05-08T14:58:00-04:00

Twenty-one of what was deemed as the most bold and creative ideas were listed as finalists in the first European edition of the Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Mayors Challenge Competition. European cities with populations of at least 100,000 residents were invited to submit ideas that address a variety of some of the most common and complex urban issues throughout the continent.

In the fall, one winner will get the grand prize of €5 million (approx. US$6.9 million) for the most original and transferable idea, and four more cities will receive €1 million (approx. US$1.4 million).

Below are the finalist cities and a glimpse into the type of issues their ideas address:

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands – Youth Unemployment
ATHENS, Greece – Civic Engagement
BARCELONA, Spain – Aging
BOLOGNA, Italy – Youth Unemployment
BRISTOL, United Kingdom – Health/Anti-obesity
BRNO, Czech Republic – Public Safety/Civic Engagement
CARDIFF, United Kingdom – Economic Development
FLORENCE, Italy – Economic Development
GDANSK, Poland – Civic Engagement
KIRKLEES, United Kingdom - Social Capital
RAKOW, Poland – Transportation
LISBON, Portugal – Energy
LONDON, United Kingdom – Public Health
MADRID, Spain – Energy
SCHAERBEEK, Belgium – Energy
SOFIA, Bulgaria – Civic Engagement
STARA ZAGORA, Bulgaria – Economic Development
STOCKHOLM, Sweden – Environment
THE HAGUE, Netherlands – Civic Engagement
WARSAW, Poland – Tran...

Olafur Eliasson Designs Mayors Challenge Award Trophy

2013-03-20T20:36:00-04:00

In our last news post, we reported about the city of Providence, RI winning the Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayors Challenge. Besides raking in the $5M top prize money, Providence can now also marvel at another perk that comes with winning the Grand Prize: a stunningly beautiful award trophy designed by acclaimed Danish artist Olafur Eliasson.

The award is a spherical model formed by three concentric circles – square, circle, and dodecagon – encircling a hanging compass. To design the award, Eliasson drew inspiration from the very spirit of The Mayors Challenge – fueling ideas and innovation for a better tomorrow for cities everywhere. No matter where the prize is placed or located, the compasses will point the same way – assisting viewers and uniting the prize winners in imagining their collective responsibility to navigate towards the greater good for all.

The Grand Prize award trophy will be installed at the Rhode Island School of Design Museum.

The other four cities that w...

Providence, RI Takes Grand Prize at Mayors Challenge

2013-03-20T19:59:00-04:00

Providence, Rhode Island was recently selected as America's most innovative city at the nationwide Mayors Challenge, taking home the $5M-Grand Prize for its idea "Providence Talks." The Mayors Challenge, hosted by Bloomberg Philanthropies, is a competition to inspire American cities to generate innovative ideas that solve major challenges and improve city life - and that ultimately can be shared with cities across the nation.