Communities from around the world that have made significant breakthroughs in addressing issues ranging from pollution to conservation and poor housing were named at the annual finals of the International Awards for Liveable Communities (LivCom) held in Chicago, USA last week.
The UN-endorsed LivCom awards annually bring together some of the world’s leading innovators in the field. This year’s finalists included representatives from some of the smallest communities on the planet, (Emly, Republic of Ireland – population 900) to some of the very largest (Medellin, Colombia – population 3.8million).
After initial judging, presentations from finalists scattered across the globe were assessed by the awards panel. The focus is on six key criteria for both projects and communities which had to show strong evidence of the following: Enhancement of the Landscape, Heritage Management, Environmentally Sensitive Practices, Community Sustainability, Healthy Lifestyles and Planning for the Future.
The finalists are divided into five categories according to their average daytime population. In addition there are winners in categories covering specific projects as well as the award of a £10,000 bursary for the most inspiring and innovative project.
The winners in the “whole city” section judged as the world’s most liveable communities across the six criteria were Emly, Republic of Ireland (population category up to 20,000), Chrudim, Czech Republic (up to 75,000), Norwich, England (up to 200,000), Odense (up to 750,000) and Wuxi, China (over 750,000).
An award was also given for outstanding achievement in each of the six criteria, recognizing particular innovation and best practice in the field. The winners showing outstanding achievement in each area were, Odense, Denmark (Enhancement of the Landscape), Dongcheng, China (Heritage Management), Wuxi, China, (Environmentally Sensitive Practices), Porirua, New Zealand (Community Sustainability), Portland, USA (Planning for the Future) and Chrudim, Czech Republic (Healthy Lifestyles).
Commenting on the success of this year’s event, Claudette Savaria (Can) Chairman of the judging panel said: “A number of very strong themes emerged during the community presentations. Every city around the world is currently facing economic pressure and the most successful communities we saw here are those that are actively contributing to the growth of their local economy by embarking on the development of the green economy."
She also said health issues are of growing importance and carbon footprints remain high on the agenda of local communities.
LivCom 2010 highlighted the way in which many municipalities have moved to adopt global targets such as reducing carbon emissions and come up with a range of answers from high tech solutions to individual behavioural change.
One award winning project from Johannesburg, South Africa highlighted efforts to green the city to contribute to global climate protection.
Project judge Gus Stahlmann (USA) said the award winning project had impressed the judges because of its impact on daily lives. “The Greening the City Legacy Project seeks to balance the distribution of the urban forest throughout the entire city, bringing a green environment to the entire population of Johannesburg.”
The full results, citations and photographs of the winners are available at the link below.
Loading...