‘Core City Services, Reimagined’

In 2021, Liveable Cities joined Bloomberg Philanthropies in bringing the Bloomberg Global Mayors Challenge to the Philippines. This was a worldwide competition among cities and municipalities to design solutions for city services which are innovative and creative. Among 631 cities from 99 countries that submitted applications in 2021, two Philippine cities made it to the semifinal round of 50 cities–Manila and Butuan. After being given an additional four months and some consultant help to improve proposals, the top 50 were screened again by a panel of judges for a final selection into the 15 best proposals in 2022.

These 15 proposals were each awarded $1 million to implement their project ideas and given further technical assistance to work on the actual execution of the plan. One Philippine city–Butuan–was selected. Butuan’s AgriBOOST project was designed to strengthen local food production by enabling farmers to make smarter decisions through a new technology-enabled agribusiness model. For many years, Butuan had an insufficient supply of agricultural produce, forcing it to procure its food supply from neighboring provinces and regions. AgriBOOST helped improve the market by providing farmers predictive data which enabled them to make informed decisions regarding their production. Since project implementation started, Butuan farmers have been able to triple production and link up much better with markets.

This year, Liveable Cities has once again partnered with Bloomberg Philanthropies for the conduct of the Bloomberg Global Mayors Challenge in the Philippines. The competition is open to cities with populations of over 100,000. The theme for this round’s competition which runs into 2025 is “Core City Services, Reimagined.” Cities are invited to deliver proposals designed to deliver a citywide service which must be felt by its residents, and which are under the direct control of a mayor. These projects must be new (not an existing project), have high impact, and come from a city with an ability to deliver. Proposals must be innovative, creative, and original but does not necessarily have to be technological.

What is a core city service? Depending on the city and the country, it can be many things. The important thing is that it must be under a city’s jurisdiction to deliver. Some examples are public transportation; public education; public safety; public libraries, parks and recreation; health care; social services; internet connectivity; housing and shelter; clean water, air and infrastructure; waste management and sanitation; economic and workforce development; energy use; disaster risk reduction management and response; and others. Again, the key factor is that the service falls directly under the management of city hall and is new and has impact.

For the Global Mayors Challenge in 2025, the top 50 cities will be given $50,000 each to improve and finalize their applications and will be invited to an “idea camp” to meet their peers and learn and share ideas about city services. The 25 best ideas will each receive $1 million and technical assistance to make their project proposals a reality.

We encourage Philippine cities to participate in this prestigious competition to find innovative solutions for city core services. There are at least four reasons to join.

The obvious first one is funding. Winners get $1 million and technical assistance to implement the project.

The second reason is global recognition. Butuan has been invited numerous times to speak at Bloomberg Global Mayors’ conferences, most recently last October in Mexico City, when the 2025 Global Mayors Challenge was launched.

Third, winning cities will receive world-class technical support. Bloomberg Philanthropies assigns consultants to help the top 25 cities.

Fourth, a winning city joins a global peer community of winners from around the world. That is a fairly prestigious company to keep.

Having won this competition in the past, we are convinced that another Philippine city can win this competition.

But the time to apply and submit a proposal is tight. The first important step to take is to register for the competition by signing up on the website (https://bit.ly/40NzkbU) to start the application process. This will enable cities to download the application forms and toolkit for the competition. Take note that deadline for submission of an application is on Dec. 20, 2024. To assist you in the preparation of an application, Liveable Cities is happy to help by providing advice and mentors or coaches. We strongly encourage Philippine cities to join this competition.

We are confident that a Philippine city can rise to be one of the top 25 cities in the Bloomberg Global Mayors Challenge.

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Guillermo M. Luz is chair of Liveable Cities Philippines and chief resilience officer of the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation.

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Business Matters is a project of Makati Business Club (makatibusinessclub@mbc.com.ph).