Sustainable development is an essential issue in today's human society. The global spread of COVID-19 highlights the importance and urgency of sustainable development. A total of 273 initiatives from 175 cities and local governments in 60 countries and regions applied for the 5th Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation, which fully demonstrated global cities' determination to adhere to exchanges and cooperation under the epidemic. This meeting released the Technical Committee Meeting results of the 5th Guangzhou Award and announced the 15 shortlisted cities.

Guests include: Mr. Guan Litong, Deputy Director General of Department of European and Asian Affairs, the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries; Mr. Sun Xiuqing, Deputy Secretary General of Guangzhou Municipal Government; Ms. Emilia Saiz, Secretary-General of United Cities and Local Governments; Mr. Octavi de la Varga, Secretary General of Metropolis. Mr. Liu Baochun, Director General of Guangzhou Foreign Affairs Office,  Metropolis  Regional Secretary of Asia-Pacific, hosted the conference.

Many speakers mentioned that the Covid-19 pandemic has challenged our urban planning and governance. Ms. Saiz said that, the Covid-19 that the world is going through has changed the perceptions of many things and has impacted our economy and our society. It has also highlighted some of the changes that we need to make at local government level. Mr. Octavi said, "The Covid-19 pandemic has placed cities and city leaders at the forefront of the fight and in adapting policies, rethinking our urban development, and looking for creative solutions. And I think this is at the heart of the Guangzhou Award." Multiple speakers expressed their recognition on Guangzhou Award’s achievement on urban governance innovation. In Mr. Guan Litong’s speech, he remarked, despite the impact of the pandemic, the 5th Guangzhou Award has progressed against the adversities. It fully demonstrated the international influence of the Guangzhou Award and the determination of global cities to cooperate and to develop under the pandemic. Mr. Sun Xiuqing praised Guangzhou Award for sticking to its mission and promote global urban governance and sustainable development, while combating the global pandemic.

Ms. Sylvia Croese, Chair of the Technical Committee of the 5th Guangzhou Award, the Senior Researcher of the South African Research Chair in Spatial Analysis and City Planning from University of the Witwatersrand, reported on the initial assessment and announced the list of shortlisted cities. Subsequently, two of the Technical Committee members, Mr. Serge Salat, President of Urban Morphology and Complex Systems Institute in Paris, and Mr. Ali Cheshmehzangi, Head of the Department of Architecture and Built Environment and Director of the Centre for Sustainable Energy Technologies (CSET) of the University of Nottingham in Ningbo China, commented on the shortlisted initiatives.

The 15 shortlisted cities of the 5th Guangzhou Award are: City of Unley, Australia; Wien, Austria; São José dos Pinhais, Brazil; Chongqing Municipality, China; Capital Region of Denmark, Denmark; Quito, Ecuador; All 114 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) of Odisha, India; Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC), India; Bandung City Government, Indonesia; Union of Municipalities, Lebanon; Municipality Of Antananarivo (Commune Urbaine d'Antananarivo, Madagascar; Breda, Netherlands; Departmental Council of Saint Louis, Senegal; City of Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa; Los Angeles, USA.

Finally, guests accepted interviews from several media and share different concepts and practices of urban innovation and sustainable development. They also give their opinion of the future trends of global urban governance and the renewing assessment of innovation. These ideas provided new insights for the exploration of future urban sustainable development.

Please find the list of 45 deserving cities as follow:

The 15 shortlisted cities of the 5th Guangzhou Award

The 30 deserving initiatives of the 5th Guangzhou Award

Report of the Technical Committee of 5th Guangzhou Award