The Healthy Cities Challenge, a partnership between Cities for Better Health and C40 Cities, has unveiled ten finalists from 90 submissions across 33 countries. 

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All the finalists reflect the need to address climate resilience and social cohesion as drivers of better health. Over half of the projects—six of the ten finalists—specifically focus on enhancing climate resilience in their cities.

The ten finalists will soon pitch their solutions to an expert panel, and three winners will be selected from these ten finalists in early October. Each will receive a USD 100,000 funding grant and guidance from C40 Cities to help implement their proposals. 

Learn more about the ten finalist projects below: 

  • Surat, India: Transforming a housing area for migrant workers into a green, healthy, and safe community featuring food markets and sports facilities.
  • Tshwane, South Africa: Building community health and environmental resilience in an informal settlement, including street improvements to promote physical activity.
  • Nairobi, Kenya: Redesigning a key road with green infrastructure to promote community cohesion through cultural events.
  • Pasig City, Philippines: Creating an urban agriculture innovation hub to address food deserts.
  • Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Stimulating active mobility through a tactical urbanism initiative rooted in sustainable urban development and climate adaptation in the Oswaldo Cruz neighbourhood.
  • Lima, Peru: Scaling up an existing intervention to strengthen community ties by improving climate resilience infrastructure, such as flood protection walls, urban gardens, and pedestrian pathways.
  • Izmir, Turkey: Improving mobility and road safety in a disconnected neighbourhood, prioritising public spaces for women and children and creating green areas to enhance community participation.
  • Vicente Lopez, Argentina: Expanding the community food market and promoting sustainable consumption and healthy meal preparation through workshops in schools and community centres.
  • Toronto, Canada: Converting an underused plot into a 400m2 climate-resilient urban agriculture site, providing fresh produce to underserved communities while reducing flood risks and urban heat islands.
  • Lisbon, Portugal: Transforming a university campus into a health-promoting community space, including bike shelters, urban gardening, and workshops to encourage active transportation for all residents.

Keep an eye on our latest news to discover which of these inspiring projects scooped the top prizes.