For the very first time, TED, the nonprofit organization devoted to “Ideas Worth Spreading,” awarded its TED Prize not to an individual but to an idea. The winner was “City 2.0,” an idea dedicated to creating the city of the future in which more than ten billion people will live happily, healthfully and sustainably.
This week, the official “wish” of the City 2.0 idea was unveiled as a short film, displaying the key phrases that build the foundation of this concept, like, “I want to be inclusive, innovative, healthy, soulful, thriving.”
The City 2.0 stands for a new platform that excites, connects, and empowers individuals and communities around the world to create an ever-expanding network of citizen-led experiments in their own cities. The City 2.0 wish is an effort to inspire and guide professionals, governments and citizens to join efforts in making choices around transportation, energy, public space, housing and law.
To give voice and put the choices in the hands of everyone, City 2.0 is also launching TheCity2.org, and online platform where citizens can participate in the creation of their own future city. Through this site, citizens are encouraged to tackle and prioritize the issues they find crucial to their city’s success. The site will also invite mayors, architects, engineers, urban planners, non-profits, multinational companies, and others to freely share ideas, tools, and resources.
“Our best cities reflect our best selves, and when done right they are the heart of culture, innovation, and entrepreneurship,” said TED Prize Director Amy Novogratz. “We have thrown the weight of the annual TED Prize behind the City 2.0., because we see opportunity in inspiring everyone to re-imagine how we work, learn, and live. Like our cities, the TED Prize is based on radical collaboration, and for the billions of us living in – and moving to – cities, this is a wish for all of us to take on.”
What would be the first issue you tackle in your city?
