Emergence of the Most Liveable Cities!

The winning cities for the 2011 LivCom Awards: The International Awards for Liveable Communities have been confirmed. On Monday, October 31 at 7 p.m., the judges for this year’s LivCom Awards (headed by Rob Small) named 16 cities as liveable, whole cities including Nanjing in China, as well as nine cities for Project Awards including Seogwipo in Jeju Island at the Awards Ceremony held at Crystal Ballroom, 3^rd floor of Lotte Hotel in Jamsil.

Specifically, gold awards, awarded respectively by the size of a city, went to the city of Nanjing in China, Joondalup in Australia, Tongyeong in Korea, Pfaffenhofen in Germany, and Nieuwpoort, Belgium. As for Korea, the city of Tongyeong was honored with the gold award as Whole City, and the city of Jeju, Namwon in North Jeolla Province and Gangdong-gu in Seoul received the silver award. In the category of Project Awards, the Olle Trail Project in the city of Seogwipo in Jeju Island was privileged to be named the Most Outstanding Project in the Natural segment. Other than that, Dubai in United Arab Emirates and Kaohsiung in Taiwan were selected as the cities executing the Most Outstanding Project. The list of this year’s winners is as follows. 

Category	Awards	Country	City	Remarks
Whole City A (Population up to 20,000)	1st place: Gold Award	Belgium	Nieuwpoort
	2nd place: Bronze Award	Spain	Gotarrendura	Joint awardees
	2nd place: Bronze Award	Taiwan	Jinhwa
	2nd place: Bronze Award	Italy	Vornicini
Whole City B (Population from 20,001 to 75,000)	1st place: Gold Award	Germany	Pfaffenhofen
	2nd place: Silver Award	Australia	Mandurah
	3rd place: Silver Award	Czech Republic	Jihlava
Whole City C (Population from 75,001 to 200,000)	1st place: Gold Award	Republic of Korea	Tongyeong
	2nd place: Gold Award	The Philippines	San Carlos
	3rd place: Silver Award	Republic of Korea	Namwon
Whole City D (Population from 200,001 to 400,000)	1st place: Gold Award	Australia	Joondalup
	2nd place: Gold Award	China	Nansha
	3rd place: Silver Award	Malaysia	Kuantan
Whole City E (Population from 400,001 and more)	1st place: Gold Award	China	Nanjing
	2nd place: Gold Award	Republic of Korea	Jeju City
	3rd place: Silver Award	Republic of Korea	Gangdong-gu
Project Awards	1st place: Gold for Natural	Republic of Korea	Seogwipo	Jeju Olle Project
	1st place: Gold Award for Built	Taiwan	Kaohsiung	World Main Stadium
	1st place: Gold Award for Socio-Economic	UAE	Dubai	Restoration of historic castles in Dubai
Bursury Awards		The Philippines	Paranaque	Received 10,000 pounds for project expenses

This awards ceremony was attended by Choon-Hee  Park, mayor of Songpa, Yeong-Ah Park and Il-Ho Yu, congresspersons, Cheol-Han Kim, chairperson of Songpa Council, Alan Smith, chairperson of LivCom Awards, and Rob Small, head of the judges and the official from LivCom Awards. Notably, delegates from 77 cities put on the traditional dresses of their country. Moreover, the distinguished guests from the participating cities including Spanish ambassador Luis Arias Romero, Czech ambassador Jarosiav Olsa, UAE ambassador Al Maainah, German deputy ambassador Johannes Regenbrecht and Mr. Liang Ying Bin from Taiwan added luster to the event.

Served with the dinner session, the special celebratory performances including the Korean classical music played by the folk ballad group Arisu and the non-verbal performance‘Nanta’were sufficient to demonstrate the excellence of the Korean culture, let alone adding amusement to the ceremony.

“(2011 LivCom Awards in Songpa) has been the arena for best practices in eco-friendly projects transcending boundaries. The competition was so fierce this year that our judges could only finalize the winners on the very day of the awards ceremony,” Mr. Smith said in his congratulatory speech. 

Ms. Park also responded by remarking“I have witnessed the dedicated efforts made by the residents and volunteers who address the environmental issues in their region through innovative policies. A success in a single city can indeed be expanded into bringing happiness around the globe.” 

In the meantime, the delegations from 77 cities adopted the“Songpa Declaration”containing the‘Globe-wide Action Plan for Symbiotic Growth.’They pledged to remain committed to building cities where nature and humans coexist, and field-based green polices are implemented. 

[Complete Text of Songpa Declaration]

The environmental issues occurring worldwide such as global warming and climate changes cannot be addressed by a single city’s effort. Only the sustainable execution can save our planet.

In this spirit, the delegations at LivCom Awards shall build a new framework for the earth and the mankind by declaring the ‘Globe-wide Action Plan for Symbiotic Growth’ through which we put action before theoretic concept. We shall establish environmentally-friendly urban system based on the motto “Think Globally, Act Regionally,” while adopting the polices that are friendly with the nature and the environment. We shall remain committed to our roles and duties that accord the developmental standards implemented by the respective cities, cope with the global challenges and crises through a tight-knit global cooperation so as to bring enhancement to the earth environment.

To that end, we shall implement the field-based green policies so as to build a city where nature and humans achieve symbiotic growth. Accordingly, we declare our action principles as follows. 

1. We shall designate places that hold ecological importance to preserve them as they are. We shall build landscapes where nature and artificial touches blend harmoniously to elevate the regional pride while bettering the quality of residents’ life.

2. We shall provide a support to all kinds of art forms, inherit and advance the inherent the regional culture, and acknowledge the historical relics and culturally-important places for better preservation.

3. We shall seek sustainable growth economically and environmentally, and encourage the best practices on preservation of the earth environment, while reinforcing international collaboration to disseminate the initiatives. 

4. We shall reflect the opinions of the interest parties in an impartial manner in planning, developing and administering the regional society, while providing due entitlement to individuals, organizations and groups for their participation.

5. We shall acknowledge that enhancement and protection of our residents’ wellness and health precedes anything that is on our agenda. To that end, we ameliorate the environments and facilities and secure wellness programs to seek improvement in the quality of their life.

6. We shall establish the future strategic plans in an organized manner according to the agreeable and democratic procedure, and specify them further via detailed action plans that stand compatible with the environment.