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2012 Ted Prize Awarded to “The City 2.0”
For the first time the Ted Prize has been awarded to an idea rather than a person. The 2012 Ted Prize has been awarded to “The City 2.0.” The Ted Prize winner receives $100,000 and also "One Wish to Change the World." The prize ties in with the TED community's assembly of expertise and resources, and works towards collaborative initiatives that will influence millions.
TED describes the concept of The City 2.0 in this way:
“The City 2.0 is the city of the future… a future in which more than ten billion people on planet Earth must somehow live sustainably.
The City 2.0 is not a sterile utopian dream, but a real-world upgrade tapping into humanity’s collective wisdom.
The City 2.0 promotes innovation, education, culture, and economic opportunity.
The City 2.0 reduces the carbon footprint of its occupants, facilitates smaller families, and eases the environmental pressure on the world’s rural areas.
The City 2.0 is a place of beauty, wonder, excitement, inclusion, diversity, life.
The City 2.0 is the city that works.”
The purpose of the TED Prize has always been to inspire action and in the past it has been given to an individual to lead a cause. However, the future of cities is so sweeping that the TED prize has decided to honor the idea itself since it has the capacity to bring together so many to tackle one of the biggest challenges that we face today.
But who will claim the TED prize for City 2.0? The organizing team is bringing together advocates -- policy makers, urban planners, architects, technologists, and more -- who will craft a wish capable of inciting action in those who love cities. The wish will be revealed during the TED Prize session on February 29, 2012 at the TED Conference in Long Beach, California.
Those who wish to contribute their ideas to The City 2.0’s TED Prize wish can write to tedprize@ted.com. Previously, the TED Prize winner received $100,000 without stipulations. In 2012, the prize money will be directly invested in the wish that will be made behalf of The City 2.0.
About the Author
Founder and CEO at Urban Interactive Studio
Chris Haller heads up Urban Interactive Studio (UIS), a technology consulting firm specializing in web and mobile solutions for urban planning agencies and firms. He's the founder of EngagingCities.com where he helps urban planners understand and use the Internet and gives practical advice.
