Not-for-profit information advocacy agency the Knight Foundation has just today released guidelines to encourage community-led urban design projects “able to spur the creation of the City 2.0.”
10 awards of $10,000 each – resourced from last year’s TED Prize of $100,000 that in breaking with tradition was the for the first time awarded to the emerging concept of a new type of community-engaged, smart city rather than an individual person or group – are up for grabs. The judging panel is looking for projects with the potential to be replicated across cities worldwide. Shortlisted projects will be interviewed prior to final funding allocations.
Project groups must have at least one member registered on the City 2.0 site. Organizers are reserving the right to roll out projects gradually rather than award them all at once, although the application deadline is a uniform The key judging criteria appears to be scalability of City 2.0 project ideas, although each application must align with a defining category that includes: The guidelines stress the importance of a realistic attitude and encourage project applicants to consider how the $10K could act as seed funding to resource initiatives with a longer-term, skills and knowledge-building perspective and a thoughtfully considered approach to how the projects could be transformative for urban environments globally.
