Medellin takes top urban innovation award

Medellin, Colombia, was announced today as the inaugural winner of the ‘Innovative City of the Year’ competition, organised by The Wall Street Journal and Citi, which aims to recognise the most innovative urban centres.

Developed with The Urban Land Institute, the innovative cities were selected based on eight criteria: environment and land use, culture and livability, economic and investment climate, progress and potential, places of power, education and human capital, technology and research, and mobility and infrastructure.

“Medellin stands today as an example for many cities around the world, because despite having lived very dark and difficult times 20 years ago we have been undergoing a true metamorphosis,” said Aníbal Gaviria, Mayor of Medellin. “Going from pain and fear to hope, and now from hope to be a place filled with life, the city has known how to innovate in every step, both in social programmes, urban development or the combination of both and this has been key in the success of this process.”

“Thanks to the innovative and forward thinking of its people, Medellin is a city in transformation and is improving the quality of life of its inhabitants,” added Bernardo Noreña, President, Citi Colombia. “With this recognition, Medellin positions itself as a leading international city in terms of its potential, progress and innovation.”

The programme was launched in June 2012 with a list of 200 cities compiled by the Urban Land Institute. After two further rounds of public voting online the field was narrowed to three–Medellin, Tel Aviv and New York City. Events were held in each of the finalist cities where civic leaders and business executives were encouraged to use social media to spread the word and vote. During the course of the competition over 980,000 votes were cast.