From now on 31st October will not only be Halloween, but also UN World Cities Day.
In 2013, the United Nations General Assembly designated every 31 October, beginning in 2014 as World Cities Day. All UN member states, the UN system, relevant international organizations, civil societies and all other relevant stakeholders are invited to observe and raise awareness of World Cities Day.
World Cities Day was first proposed in order to promote the international community’s interest in global urbanisation, encourage cooperation among countries in meeting opportunities and addressing challenges in urbanization towards sustainable urban development.
To celebrate the big event, Guardian Cities and UN-Habitat hereby announce the World Cities Day Challenge. They want to hear the best ideas from cities around the world. Every city has different ideas that make it great, from the first skyscrapers and metros in New York and London to more recent innovations like congestion charging, bike sharing, buried expressways or floating schools. What unique venture can your city boast to the rest of the world – something that would make a real difference to the lives of residents of other cities?
If you, your tutor group or school think you’ve got what it takes to be the representative of your city’s best idea, the Guardian wants to hear from you now!
Your big (or small) idea can be anything you like – a community initiative you started, a technical innovation, a groundbreaking building that just went up, a new green space you love … just so long as your city has already implemented it (or is in the process of doing so) and other cities could benefit from adopting it.
Just send a brief, 100-word outline of you and your city’s idea by Friday 19 September 2014; the city representatives will be selected by 30 September to cities.day.challenge@theguardian.com.
Why not visit a city with your students that you haven't visited before? Click HERE to browse our guide to UK locations.
