World Mayor

World Mayor is a biennial award organized by the City Mayors Foundation since 2004. It intends to raise the profile of mayors worldwide, as well as honour those who have served their communities well and who have contributed to the well-being of cities, nationally and internationally. The organisers make it plain that the award has no connection with any city or organization and is run on strictly non-commercial lines. Helen Zille and Leopoldo Lopez discussed their 2008 nominations on the BBC World Service programme 'Outlook'. The Guardian looked at contenders for the 2014 prize.[1] The 2018 World Mayor Project was dedicated to women mayors.[2] The 2020 World Mayor Project is dedicated to mayors who have made the relief of poverty one of their top priorities.[3] The winner of the 2021 World Mayor Prize Ahmed Aboutaleb was presented with his award at a ceremony held in the Dutch Senate by its President Jan Anthonie Bruijn.[4]

The 2023 World Mayor Prize will be dedicated to Friendship between Cities. It will be awarded to a mayor and city that have made outstanding contributions to friendship and cooperation between towns and cities at home and across borders.

The City Mayors Foundation commissions the trophy presented as the World Mayor Prize. The trophy was designed by artist Manuel Ferrari and is handmade out of steel by the metalworker Kaspar Swankey.[5]

Notable recipients

Notable winners include (subsequent political offices): Edi Rama (Prime Minister of Albania), Dora Bakoyannis (Greek foreign minister) and Marcelo Ebrard (Mexican foreign minister), while runners-up (or top 10 finalists) have included Andrés Manuel López Obrador (President of Mexico), Job Cohen (Dutch Labour opposition leader), Joko Widodo (President of Indonesia), Gavin Newsom (Governor of California), Leopoldo López (Venezuelan opposition leader), Cory Booker (US Senator) and John Hickenlooper (US Senator and former Governor of Colorado).

Riace (Italy) mayor Domenico Lucano, who came third in the 2010 poll, was arrested in October 2018 on various immigration-related charges. The mayor of Gdańsk Paweł Adamowicz, who was assassinated in January 2019, had ranked ninth in the 2016 poll.

City Mayors Foundation

The City Mayors Foundation, also known as City Mayors, is an international think tank dedicated to urban affairs.[6] It has been active since 2003 and runs the biennial World Mayor Prize, as well as providing pro bono consultancy services. Unlike Eurocities and United Cities and Local Governments it is wholly independent of any city.[7]

Winners of the World Mayor Prize
YearNameMayor ofReference
2004Edi RamaAlbania Tirana
2005Dora BakoyannisGreece Athens
2006John SoAustralia Melbourne
2008Helen ZilleSouth Africa Cape Town
2010Marcelo EbrardMexico Mexico City
2012Iñaki AzkunaSpain Bilbao
2014Naheed NenshiCanada Calgary
2016Bart SomersBelgium Mechelen
2018Valeria MancinelliItaly Ancona
2021Ahmed AboutalebNetherlands Rotterdam
Philippe RioFrance Grigny

Runners up (Commendations)
YearNameMayor ofReference
2004Andrés Manuel López ObradorMexico Mexico City
2005Hazel McCallionCanada Mississauga
2006Job CohenNetherlands Amsterdam
2008Elmar LedergerberSwitzerland Zurich
2010Mick CornettUnited States Oklahoma City
2012Lisa ScaffidiAustralia Perth
2014Daniël TermontBelgium Ghent
2016Wolfgang MüllerGermany Lahr
2018Ros Jones, Nathalie Appéré, Charlotte Britz, Beng ClimacoUnited Kingdom Doncaster, France Rennes, Germany Saarbrücken, Philippines Zamboanga City

References
  1. Leach, Anna (30 December 2014). "Who will be crowned the world's best mayor for 2014?". The Guardian.
  2. "World Mayor 2018: Raison d'etre". www.worldmayor.com.
  3. "World Mayor 2020: Mayors fighting Poverty". www.worldmayor.com.
  4. "Presentation of the 2021 World Mayor Prize". www.worldmayor.com.
  5. "Kaspar Swankey". swankeypankey.com. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
  6. Newing, Rod (18 May 2010). "Funding and social capital are key factors in financing regeneration". FT.com. Retrieved 28 June 2012.
  7. "City Mayors: About City Mayors". citymayors.com. 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
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