REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, SURABAYA -- The East Java city of Surabaya is the strongest favorite to win the "The 4th Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation". The Indonesian Consulate General in Guangzhou, China, revealed the information on Friday.
"Surabaya is still leading in the first place," Consul General for Guangzhou Gustanto said in a statement received by Antara.
Until Nov 7, there were 1,466,878 votes in favor of Surabaya, followed by the city of Yiwu, China, with 1,413,223 votes and Sante Fe of Argentina with 847,973 votes.
"The winner will be announced on Dec.7 at night," Gustanto said.
The 4th Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation is a token of international appreciation contested every two years by cities in the world held since 2012,he said.
"This year Surabaya are selected among 15 finalists," he added.
Guangzhou Award is held by United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), World Association of the Major Metropolises (Metropolis), and the city government of Guangzhou. The appreciation is mainly in innovation and important achievement of the cities,as well as harmonious and sustainable development by the cities.
For the Guangzhou Award 2018, the committee received 273 applications from 193 cities in 66 countries. From the number, the committee selected and named 15 finalists, and divided them into four categories - Accessible Cities, Cooperative Cities, Inclusive Cities, and Resilient Cities.
For the city of Surabaya with its project of "Public Participation in 3R Waste Management for Better Surabaya", is included in the category of Cooperative Cities.
Surabaya will compete with other finalists including Sydney (Australia), Repentigny (Canada), Milan (Italy), eThekwini (South Africa), Guadalajara (Mexico), Utrecht (Netherlands), New York (USA), Yiwu (China), Santa Ana (Costa Rica), Kazan (Russia), Mezitli (Turkey), Santa Fe (Argentina), Salvador (Brazil), and Wuhan (China).
"In addition to final evaluation by the jurors, Guangzhou Award also opens online voting for favorite cities," he said.
The 15 finalists cities were given an opportunity for presentation of their selected projects in International Seminar on Learning from Urban Innovation in Baiyun International Convention Center, Guangzhou on 6 December 2018.
Surabaya Mayor Tri Rismaharani presented the project of the city in front of the jurors and 300 participant of the seminar. Tri Rismaharani, who is now President of UCLG elected in September 2018, chaired a meeting on Technical Committee of UCLG held in Surabaya.
"Before arriving in Guangzhou, Tri Rismaharani stopped over in Pyongyang in her capacity as President of UCLG to meet representatives of the North Korean Government," Gustanto said.
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