When more than 700 mayors, civic leaders, urban experts, and creatives gathered in Mexico City for the 11th Bloomberg CityLab last week, they dug deeply into a host of complex challenges and the innovative ways cities are tackling them. They also shared insights into where public innovation is headed next—and how cities can propel entire nations forward. As James Anderson, who leads the Government Innovation program at Bloomberg Philanthropies, told attendees, “Equipping mayors is not just cities work. It’s nation-building.”
At center stage this year were many of the most pressing issues facing today’s local leaders, including affordable housing, migration, climate, population growth, democracy, and much more. Here are standout moments from this year’s preeminent global cities summit.
Radically reimagining the services residents depend on.
Michael R. Bloomberg, the 108th mayor of New York City and founder of Bloomberg L.P. and Bloomberg Philanthropies, kicked off the final day of this year’s summit with a major announcement: the launch of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ largest-ever Mayors Challenge. For more than a decade, this signature ideas competition has spurred government innovation that has improved lives in cities around the world. And, as Bloomberg announced at CityLab, this year’s Challenge calls on leaders to hone and test groundbreaking ideas for bringing innovation to their core services, such as public transportation, waste management, housing, and emergency response. Fifty finalists will receive $50,000 and participate in an Ideas Camp to hone, model, and test their concepts, and 25 of those cities will each receive $1 million to bring their solutions to life.
Showcasing game-changing ideas that can work everywhere.
With city leaders hungry to replicate solutions that work but sometimes lacking the capacity to adapt them locally, Patricia E. Harris, CEO of Bloomberg Philanthropies, announced the first slate of ideas to enter the Bloomberg Cities Idea Exchange. The initiative identifies evidence-backed solutions and accelerates their spread to cities around the world with support ranging from idea tours to technical assistance.
As she unveiled the initial solutions to hit the exchange—from low-cost sensors that track air pollution to Atlanta’s shipping containers that now serve as housing—Harris emphasized the exponential potential of systematic idea sharing. “These 11 ideas address a wide variety of challenges and are backed by exciting results—and they all have the potential to make a great impact,” she said.