Twenty cities from across the U.S. are competing for nine million dollars in grant money that could fund their innovative solution to some of the major urban challenges that face our communities today. These Top 20 finalists were selected from 305 teams, formed by mayors, architects and local professionals, representing a city of 30,000 or more residents that responded to Mayor Bloomberg’s Mayors Challenge with a bold idea that could potentially make our government more efficient, solve a serious problem, or improve city life.
The five boldest ideas with the greatest potential for impact will win funding as well as national and local recognition. The winning city will receive a $5,000,000 grand prize and four other cities will receive $1,000,000 to help implement their ideas.
The Top 20 finalists are…
Boston, MA: Cloud-based platform to put student data under the control of parents and empower them to share it with entrepreneurs
Chicago, IL: Ambitious plan to develop open-source predictive data analytics platform that aggregates and analyzes data from all city departments
Cincinnati, OH: Dramatic reduction in infant deaths through intervention that reaches 100% of new mothers
Durham, NC: Community labs in distressed properties that foster entrepreneurship by connecting students, businesses and underserved residents
High Point, NC: First-of-its-kind adaptation of evidence-based Cease Fire approach to domestic violence reduction
Hillsboro, OR: Transformed suburban transportation system that integrates public and private options to create more accessible, sustainable community
Houston, TX: New “one bin for all” plan that aims to maximize reuse, make recycling easier and capture 75 percent of city’s waste stream
Indianapolis, IN: First-ever upfront planning process to create new (63-school) citywide charter network
Knoxville, TN: Comprehensive local food system that addresses land, farming jobs, processing, transit, sale, and composting
Lafayette, LA: Innovative platform for community-wide gaming for social good
Lexington, KY: New platform to generate citizen solutions to civic problems (rooted in how the city solicited Mayors Challenge ideas)
Milwaukee, WI: Bold plan to transform foreclosed properties into urban agricultural assets through homesteading
Philadelphia, PA: Reimagined RFP process that better enables civic entrepreneurs to solve city problems
Phoenix, AZ: Customized “smart-energy” districts in 15 urban neighborhoods to help city become “smartest energy city in the world”
Providence, RI: Novel, evidence-based intervention to close word deficit of poor children through home visitations and increased vocabulary exposure
Saint Paul, MN: Revolutionized permitting process for residents, developers and business owners inspired by TurboTax
San Francisco, CA: Increase capacity and promote workforce development by matching job seekers with micro-volunteering opportunities on city projects
Santa Monica, CA: Ambitious approach for measuring and improving “wellbeing” on a citywide basis
Springfield, OR: Mobile primary care delivery units to revolutionize EMS
Syracuse, NY: Immigrant (especially refugee) attraction and retention strategy that promotes launch of new microenterprises
Next up, the Top 20 will participate in an intensive two-day collaborative session in New York City to strengthen their ideas. Each city will continue to refine their proposals during the first quarter of 2013 before submitting their final idea. In the second quarter, the five winners will be announced and each city will begin to implement their ideas immediately.
You can learn more about each proposal here on the competition’s official website.
via the Mayors Challenge
