With the highest number of submissions in the history of the CityNet-ESCAP SDG City Awards, competition was fierce for the top three awards. The judging panel noted that any of the finalists were qualified to take home top honours. A panel of five esteemed judges lent their expertise to assess the cases: Mr. Vijay Jagannathan (Secretary General, CityNet), Mr. Christopher Rollo (Philippines Country Programme Manager, UN-Habitat), Ms. Diana Torres (Regional Governance Advisor, UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub), Mr. Gregg McDonald (Director of Program Operations, Asia Pacific, Habitat for Humanity International), and Mr. Jaigeun Lim (Director of Foreign Residents and Immigration Policy Division of Seoul Metropolitan Government).
After meticulous evaluations and thoughtful consideration, the winners were announced:
- 3rd Place: Kuala Lumpur
- 2nd Place: Baguio
- Grand Prize: Busan
To read more about the cases, visit here.
- Iloilo City, this year’s gracious host, received a special Livable City Award for its “Iloilo River Esplanade” project. This initiative enhances inclusivity, social interaction, and environmental resilience by creating much-needed public social spaces in harmony with the natural landscape of the Iloilo River.
- Adding excitement to the ceremony, the Audience Choice Award was introduced. This surprise honour allowed the audience to vote for their favourite projects among the nine remaining finalists. Following a dynamic live polling session, Makati City was declared the winner.
Winning cities will have the opportunity to engage in follow-up city-to-city knowledge-sharing events and will form an SDGs localisation mentorship cohort with the aim of replicating their winning cases in cities across the region.
We extend our deepest gratitude to all our distinguished guests and participants who contributed to the success of the ceremony, to our esteemed panel of judges for their thoughtful deliberation, and most importantly, to our winners for their inspiring contributions to sustainable urban development.
