Fuzhou one of five to receive inaugural Global Award for Sustainable Development in Cities

Australia's Brisbane, China's Fuzhou, Malaysia's George Town of Penang, Uganda's Kampala, and Brazil's Salvador won the inaugural Global Award for Sustainable Development in Cities, or Shanghai Award, issued at the opening ceremony of the World Cities Day China Observance held in Shanghai on Saturday.

The five cities were recognized for their strides and innovations in implementing the goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the New Urban Agenda in recent years, and the award was set to boost urban sustainable development around the world, according to the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, or UN-Habitat, and the Shanghai municipal government, which jointly presented the award.

Four major dimensions - economic vitality and urban prosperity, ecological construction and green development, urban safety and resilience development, and capacity building for sustainable development - were the main factors that the award focuses on.

Altogether 54 cities from 16 countries around the world completed applications for the award. They covered cities in developed countries, developing countries and least developed ones at different levels of development, income and demographics.

Brisbane, for example, became a laureate as it represents a people-centered, innovative city by creatively combining data, technology, urban planning and robust financial and economic models with social systems.

To further improve the public transport network, the city is delivering the turn-up-and-go Brisbane Metro, a new era of fully electric, high-capacity connected transport that links the city to the suburbs with turn-up-and-go services, operating 24 hours on weekends - no timetables needed.

George Town, Penang, prioritizes green connectivity projects, such as pedestrian-friendly schemes, dedicated bike lanes, free shuttle bus service, intelligent parking system and urban walking and cycling, to create a safe and convenient integrated transportation system, improve urban accessibility and overall quality of life, and reduce carbon emissions.

The city faces climate change challenges, including rising temperatures, drought, urban heat islands and rising sea levels. It has launched a Nature-Based Climate Adaptation Programme in which a set of components has been implemented: increasing urban greening to reduce heat, using green corridors to manage rainwater, and strengthening social resilience and institutional capacity.

Jointly hosted by China's Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Shanghai government, and UN-Habitat, the World Cities Day China Observance themed "financing sustainable urban future for all" gathered 1,500 officials, scholars, and representatives from home and abroad. The event will run through Tuesday and include more than 20 sub-forums, side events and exhibitions.

"We're here providing a platform for cities to share solutions and also the journeys they've walked through and the challenges that they face. We understand that some challenges, such as informal settlement, pollution, and employment, are shared and the cities officials can learn and relearn and think and rethink the way that we manage our cities," said Maimunah Mohd Sharif, under-secretary-general of the United Nations and executive director of UN-Habitat.

The Shanghai Manual, which summarizes cities with good sustainable development practices, and the "Shanghai index", which assists officials in evaluating achievements and challenges in city-level sustainable development and adjusting city governance priorities, were also released at the event.

Jointly developed by the Shanghai government, UN-Habitat, and the Chinese ministry, the index, is based on the Global Urban Monitoring Framework by the UN program and considers economic, societal, environmental, cultural and governance factors.

The system also takes into account four sub-goals covered in the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: safety and peace, inclusiveness, disaster resilience and sustainability.

"Shanghai Index" is expected to carry out pilot application at international, national and regional levels on a global scale by 2030 to form a knowledge sharing and cooperation network regarding sustainable development for cities around the globe.