Application Guidelines

Read alongside our FAQ page

Your guide to the 2024 Students Reinventing Cities competition

Students Reinventing Cities is C40 Cities' global competition seeking innovative & tangible ideas for a green & just urban future. The competition began in December 2020 and launched its third edition in October 2023, running until September 2024. 


The competition creates a space to:

  • drive collaboration between youth and city governments to accelerate low-carbon urban redevelopment.

  • support the development of globally replicable and innovative urban design solutions.

  • strengthen knowledge and understanding of leading climate policies, solutions and technologies. 


 Fill out the Team Up Form to connect with new teammates and bring more diversity & expertise to your team. 


HOW IT WORKS

  • Participating world-leading cities have selected a priority urban area for young people to redesign. These cities are seeking creative and innovative solutions that address city climate targets, resident priorities and local challenges.

  • Interested participants select a site/city to develop a proposal for. Participants then form teams and develop a comprehensive action plan for the site.

  • Projects should seek to transform urban areas into green and thriving neighbourhoods, integrating the “15-Minute City” model & proximity approach for low-carbon urbanisation. 


PARTICIPATION ELIGIBILITY 

  • Current university students of any age, any degree level, and any discipline can participate, provided they are enrolled in the 2023-2024 (or 2024) academic year.

  • Any young person who is not a current student can also participate, provided they are aged 18-28.

  • Teams must comprise at least one current university student. “University(ies)” refers to research institutions, schools, colleges and the entire academic community in higher education, above the high school level.

  • Teams must be composed of at least two people. There is no limit to the maximum number of people that can be in a team.

  • The competition encourages participants to develop mixed-discipline teams, drawing on knowledge from a wide range of studies. Teams may include participants from multiple departments such as architecture, urbanism, environment, engineering, real estate development, sociology, economy, and the arts, among other fields.

  •  Any eligible participant is welcome to apply, regardless of their city of residence. Participants do not need to be from or reside in, the city they have chosen for the competition.


TIMELINE

  • 26 October 2023 |  Competition launched

  • 05 April 2024* | Deadline to register your team*

  • 20 June 2024* | Deadline to submit your project* 

  • July 2024 | Jury composed of C40, city & experts to assess all projects

  • August/September 2024 | Announcement of winning projects

*Timeline may vary for certain cities. Please refer to each city's site page to verify the timeline. 

PARTICIPATING CITIES & SITES TO CHOOSE FROM 

  • 2023/24 participating cities include Addis Ababa, Amman, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Copenhagen, Curitiba, Freetown, Guadalajara, Johannesburg, Lisbon, London, Los Angeles, Rome, Salvador, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Toronto & Wuhan.
  • All information about cities' selected sites is available on the Sites in Competition 2023/24 page. 
  • A Site Form is provided for each city. This is prepared by the city and will summarise the context of the site and detail the city’s objectives and specifications for the project. The Site Form may provide further information regarding submission requirements such as language requirements as well as potential additional awards given by the city.
  • The Site Form should be read alongside the competition's Regulations document
  •  An online folder (“Dataroom”) will also be available containing more relevant documentation [maps, images, regulations] related to the site. 

SCORING CRITERIA

For each site, all submitted projects will be judged based on the following criteria:
  • Quality of the team and their approach to developing the project.
  • Quality of design and relevance of the project 
  • Proposed solutions aligned with the Green & Thriving Neighbourhoods Guidance
  • Feasibility of the project.

For each site, the final projects are evaluated (anonymously) by a jury composed of representatives from the city, C40 and external experts. The composition of the juries will be made public. 

One winner will be chosen per city/site; some projects may be awarded a special mention. Please refer to the Regulations Document for a more detailed breakdown of the scoring criteria.


WINNING PRIZES 

For each city/site, the winning team will receive:

  • An official Certificate signed by the Mayor of the city and the Executive Director of C40.
  • Coverage in local and global communication campaigns (social media, press releases, Reinventing Cities website).
  • Be featured in an official C40l video sponsored celebrating their project. 
  • Be invited to present their project to business leaders, city officials and/or leading climate organisations. 


Additional awards may be given at each city's discretion. Further information regarding additional awards can be found within the city-specific Site Form. 


Got a question that this page hasn't answered? Check out our FAQ page for more information.
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