Today, we are excited to name the first group of cities selected through the Rockefeller Foundation’s 100 Resilient Cities Centennial Challenge – cities who have demonstrated a dedicated commitment to building their own capacities to prepare for, withstand, and bounce back rapidly from shocks and stresses.

Since we announced the challenge on our 100th birthday, May 14, 2013, the response has been enormous, with more than 1,000 registrations and nearly 400 formal applications from cities around the world. Each city was asked to present a clear and compelling description of how they are approaching and planning for resilience to decrease vulnerabilities, and after careful review of the applications, a panel of esteemed judges, including former presidents Bill Clinton and Olosegun Obasanjo, recommended the first set of 33 cities for the 100 Resilient Cities Network.

It wasn’t easy to choose only 33 – we had so many passionate, vibrant entries. Among the winners: One of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world wrote of the city’s history withstanding shocks for the past eight millennia.

One African city wrote of a resilience plan as harmonizing climate change adaptation, biodiversity, planning and management and water security.

And a city in South America finds itself dealing with landslides and forest fires, all while sitting in the shadow of a volcano.

AFRICA

Dakar (Senegal)
Durban (South Africa)

CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA

Medellín (Colombia)
Mexico City (Mexico)
Porto-Alegre (Brazil)
Quito (Ecuador)
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)

EUROPE

Bristol (UK)
Glasgow (UK)
Rome (Italy)
Rotterdam (Netherlands)
Vejle (DK)

MIDDLE EAST

Ashkelon (Israel)
Byblos (Lebanon)
Ramallah (Palestine)

NORTH AMERICA

Alameda (CA)
Berkeley (CA)
Boulder (CO)
El Paso (TX)
Jacksonville (FL)
Los Angeles (CA)
New Orleans (LA)
New York City (NY)
Norfolk (VA)
Oakland (CA)
San Francisco (CA)

OCEANIA

Christchurch (New Zealand)
Melbourne (Australia)

SOUTH ASIA

Surat (India)

SOUTHEAST ASIA

Bangkok (Thailand)
Da Nang (Vietnam)
Mandalay (Myanmar)
Semarang (Indonesia)

Cities selected for the Network will receive four kinds of support:

The support to hire and empower a Chief Resilience Officer, a central point of contact within each city to coordinate and oversee the resilience activities, coordinate stakeholders, and ensure resilience is a city-wide priority.

The support for that Chief Resilience Officer to develop a resilience plan, which will take stock of existing efforts, identify priority areas of needs, conduct analysis to understand the interconnected risks and opportunities, and develop a clear and actionable set of priorities and initiatives.

Access to a platform of services to support the implementation of such a strategy, which may include solutions to spur investments and financing for resilient infrastructure, information technology tools, and policy models for resilience-enabling laws and regulations.

Connection to other Network members, to share what works, spotlight success, and advance both global and regional dialogues on urban resilience.

Greener Cities is a division of Crossbow Communications. Greener Cities is a resource for sustainable and resilient cities and communities around the world.

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