Over 180,000 people move into cities every single day. This has enormous infrastructural implications, from accommodating new hospital patients and updating sewer infrastructure to increasing energy production to serve new residents. The worlds’ urbanisation is so rapid that the UN projects that more than 60% of the global population will be living in cities by 2030. How can local, regional, national and international governing bodies confront the system of complex interrelated problems that this type of mass urbanisation creates?

For over four years, the Sustainable Cities Collective has served as one of the web's best resources for learning about urban ideas in action. Some of the most innovative organisations and individuals in the urban policy sphere come together here to discuss and share best practices from around the globe.

Together with our sister sites, The Energy Collective and HealthWorks Collective, we are proud to be partnering with Citi and the Financial Times to promote the FT/Citi Ingenuity Awards: Urban Ideas in Action.

The Energy Collective combines climate policy experts with energy decision makers, while HealthWorks is used by the worlds best thinkers on health care policy and practices to learn from one another. As such, we invite our readers and contributors to step up, join in the discussion and take part in the contest.

The Award is specifically looking for examples of ingenious ideas in action in four specific sectors, all in the urban context: education, energy, healthcare and infrastructure.

• Education: New ideas and learning models that have been implemented in the context of educating people – within the classroom (at any age), or in a practical setting – relating to challenges that urban dwellers face, including literacy, job skills, distance learning and access to education

• Energy: Ingenious and original projects implemented in the field of energy generation, distribution, pricing and conservation. This includes low-carbon emission energies as well as classic energy sources

• Healthcare: Projects that have brought new models of healthcare into cities, improved levels of access, care and service to urban dwellers, reduced prevalence of diseases and debilitating illnesses, more affordable pricing, etc

• Infrastructure: Original ideas that have been implemented related to better and/or more affordable transportation, reduced emissions and pollution, provision of infrastructure such as water, roads, phone service, etc, and in general projects that have improved the ‘livability’ of urban environments

The application deadline is midday (GMT) on April 30th and the awards will be presented at an awards dinner in New York in December 2012. Please watch the promotional videos below and consider entering.

 

Criteria and metrics for the Awards have been developed by INSEAD, one of the world’s leading and largest graduate business schools.