Today, Auckland joins 17 global cities to launch Students Reinventing Cities, a competition for students and universities from across the globe to share their vision for greener, fairer cities.

The competition, led by C40 Cities - a global network of cities committed to taking action on climate change – will ignite creative ideas to decarbonise city neighbourhoods, as well as support thriving and resilient life for local communities.

The competition calls on multi-disciplinary teams formed by students in urbanism, architecture, and environment as well as in business, real estate and engineering from local universities including the University of Auckland. The students will be asked to develop and share innovative solutions to environmental and societal challenges.

Phil Goff, Mayor of Auckland said, “I am pleased to launch Students Reinventing Cities with 17 other Mayors around the world. Students represent the next generation of scholars, academics and scientists and will have a key role to play in the future of cities and climate change mitigation and adaption.

“Northcote Town Centre has been identified as the focus neighbourhood for the Students Reinventing Cities competition and academics and students are now invited to share their creative vision and fresh ideas in line with the city's climate priorities and the Northcote Town Centre Benchmark Master Plan.

“The Master Plan allows for the opportunity for additional thinking and compelling ideas to feed into the final plans for the town centre regeneration, allowing competition proposals to potentially influence the final design for this key site.

“Now more than ever, we need to work collectively to redevelop our cities and neighbourhoods so we can not only improve local people’s health and wellbeing, but collectively work toward a unified global response to the climate crisis. This competition provides students with an exciting opportunity to share ideas and potentially influence the future of our city.”

Mark Watts, C40 Executive Director, explains: “Across the globe, COVID-19 has profoundly impacted the way we work, travel and live day-to-day. In the process it has exacerbated existing inequalities and hit vulnerable communities the hardest, urging us to prioritise a green and just recovery from the pandemic, and accelerate equitable solutions to the climate crisis.

“This competition is an opportunity for students to have a voice, to share their ideas and passion for making change, and contribute to these solutions.”

Other cities participating in the competition include; Athens, Barcelona, Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Chicago, Dakar, Delhi, Dubai, Madrid, Melbourne, Montréal, Paris, Quezon City, Quito, Reykjavík, Seattle and Washington D.C.

Academia and students interested in entering the competition can find out more at www.c40reinventingcities.org. Deadline for entries is March 2021. The finalists will then be selected and invited to submit their final proposals by May 2021. A jury from the city and C40 Cities will select a winner for each city site, which will be announced at a ceremony in July 2021.

The winning projects will be celebrated in a global communication campaign and winning students will be invited to present their projects to local business leaders, city officials and leading climate organisations.

For further information, please contact: Liz Kirschberg, Senior Publicity Specialist, 021 704791, liz.kirschberg@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

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