Awards Categories

For the 2024 edition of the World Green City Awards, the seven award categories are:

Living Green for Health and Wellbeing

Addressing the medical, behavioural, and social determinants of health for residents.

People are measurably happier when they work and live in green surroundings. This comes from both physical and psychological benefits. Improved health results in lower costs for health-care providers, and benefits the economy through improved productivity and lower absenteeism and staff turnover.

Living Green for Water

Ensuring water resources are safeguarded and wisely used, with clean water available to all while also protecting residents from flooding risks.

Water issues related to drought and flooding are already a significant impact of climate change, with traditional engineering solutions commonly overwhelmed. Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems incorporate plants into water management systems, thereby offering considerable advantages over engineering solutions, an, at the same time, providing additional benefits of amenity and recreation, and space for wildlife.

Living Green for Social Cohesion and Inclusive Communities

Bringing urban populations together and fostering belonging, equity, trust and inter-generational as well as cross-cultural relationships to prevent exclusion, marginalisation, and violence.

Greener environments encourage people to spend more time in outdoor spaces, improving social interaction and community cohesion which in turn contributes to reduced crime. Community cohesion is especially important in multi-cultural communities and also enable inter-generational social relationships.

Living Green for Urban Agriculture and Food Systems

Creating strategies and practices that build the resilience of city food supplies to increase employment and nutritional outcomes, reduce poverty and address urban environmental degradation.

Urban agriculture offers numerous benefits to cities, providing solutions to problems associated with transportation, health, land use, waste management, education, and community cohesion. Permanent or temporary use of private and public land can increase capacity for local food production. Community gardening promotes self-sufficiency and reduces food miles

Living Green for Urban Infrastructure and Liveability

Promoting and supporting nature-positive lifestyles for all city residents, visitors and businesses, through a well planned, designed, and maintained built environment.

Greenery around buildings can reduce energy consumption by providing insulation and shading, keeping buildings cooler in summer and warmer in winter. Vegetation can also improve air quality by absorbing carbon dioxide and filtering particulate matter. Views of nature from workplaces and residential buildings enhances well-being and productivity, emphasizing the importance of biophilic design.