SINGAPORE: Mexico City won the 7th edition of the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize 2024. The award recognizes outstanding achievements and contributions to creating liveable, vibrant, and sustainable urban communities worldwide.
Four other cities have also been recognized this year: Cape Town, South Africa; Melbourne, Australia; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Wellington, New Zealand, are receiving Special Mentions for their achievements and best practices in city management, a May 7 statement says.
Since 2010, Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority and the Centre for Liveable Cities have jointly organized the biennial award.
The statement says that Mexico City “stands out for its ability to address many complex urban challenges and achieve transformational progress within a relatively short time of five years.
Through visionary leadership, the City introduced new programmes while rejuvenating existing ones and brought about significant advancement in urban renewal and regeneration, environmental sustainability, transport, and digital transformation to the benefit of its residents across all strata of society.”
To achieve this, Mexico City has been building stronger and more resilient communities, creating a more seamless commute, leveraging technology to improve lives, and driving community-centric environmental efforts.
More details on these laudable strategies may be found here.
Dr Cheong Koon Hean, who heads the Nominating Committee for the award, praised the way Mexico City has “demonstrated how its citizen-centric city programmes, supported by strong leadership and new digital initiatives to simplify and improve access to public services, can benefit its residents, regardless of their socio-economic status.”
He acknowledged the city’s “ongoing challenges as a mega city” but added that it “provides an inspiring story, giving hope that it is possible to make impactful change if we are focused on a longer-term vision and boldly embrace urban innovation and inclusivity.”
Mr Martí Batres Guadarrama, the city’s Mayor, said, “We are very happy to have been honoured as the 2024 winner of this prestigious award.
We would like to thank the Prize committee of the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize for having chosen us from a list of cities that, like Mexico City, have shown significant advances to create more sustainable and inclusive communities.
As Head of Government of Mexico City, the awarding of this Prize drives us further to continue the transformation that we started nearly six years ago to build a more just, inclusive, and sustainable city.”
Meanwhile, Dr Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, the city’s former Mayor, noted that the award places Mexico City among prize-winners such as Vienna, New York City, Seoul, Medellin, Suzhou, and Bilbao.
“I am convinced that this Prize will further help consolidate the transformation of our city into a more resilient, sustainable, and inclusive home for the nearly 10 million people who live here,” she added. /TISG
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