Mexican capital wins World City Prize – Cities Today

Mexico City has been awarded the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize for leveraging technology to improve residents’ lives and for integrating transit payment systems to provide seamless travel.

The prize is a biennial international award which is jointly organised by Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority and the Centre for Liveable Cities.

“We are very happy to have been honoured as the 2024 winner of this prestigious award,” said Martí Batres Guadarrama, Mayor of Mexico City. “The awarding of this prize drives us further to continue the transformation that we started nearly six years ago to build a more just, inclusive and sustainable city.”

According to the organisers, the city stood out for its ability to address complex urban challenges and achieve transformational progress within a relatively short time of five years. This includes introducing new programmes and rejuvenating existing ones to increase urban renewal and regeneration, and to improve environmental sustainability, transport and digital transformation.

“Despite on-going challenges as a mega city, Mexico City provides an inspiring story, giving hope that it is possible to make impactful change if we are focused on a longer-term vision and boldly embrace urban innovation and inclusivity,” commented Dr Cheong Koon Hean, Nominating Committee Chair.

Some of Mexico City’s key initiatives highlighted by organisers include: 

• Creating a more seamless commute. Integrating eight transit payment systems via a single transport card to enhance mobility for residents and transient populations. It has also built the world’s longest cable car line to reduce time and cost of commuting, especially for low-income neighbourhoods.
• Leveraging technology to improve lives. Developing a centralised secure digital identity system, the “Llave” platform, which enables residents to access the majority of the city’s services, from registering vehicles to retrieving birth certificates. In addition, the deployment of an extensive network of 31,000 free Wi-Fi hotspots.
• Building stronger and more resilient communities. A standout initiative is PILARES (Puntos de Innovación, Libertad, Arte, Educación y Saberes’ or Points of Innovation, Freedom, Art, Education and Knowledge), which offers programmes for community bonding, youth rehabilitation, and continuous learning through 294 community centres throughout the city.
• Driving community-centric environmental efforts. Re-vegetation efforts have been carried out to transform desolate land into parks and urban forests.

Cape Town, Melbourne, Rio de Janeiro, and Wellington were also selected as Special Mentions for their achievements and best practices in city management. Previous cities to win the prize have included Vienna, New York City, Seoul, Medellin, Suzhou and Bilbao, among others.

In addition to an award certificate, Mexico City will be presented with a cash prize of US$222,000 and a gold medallion worth US$37,000, at the World Cities Summit in Singapore, 2-4 June.

Image: Diego Grandi | Dreamstime.com