For the first time in the history of the TED Prize, it is being awarded not to an individual, but to an idea. It is an idea upon which our planet’s future depends:
The City 2.0.
The City 2.0 is the city of the future… a future in which more than ten billion people on planet Earth must somehow live sustainably.
The City 2.0 is not a sterile utopian dream, but a real-world upgrade tapping into humanity’s collective wisdom.
The City 2.0 promotes innovation, education, culture and economic opportunity.
The City 2.0 reduces the carbon footprint of its occupants, facilitates smaller families and eases the environmental pressure on the world’s rural areas.
The City 2.0 is a place of beauty, wonder, excitement, inclusion, diversity, life.
The City 2.0 is the city that works.
The TED Prize grants its winner $100,000 and “one wish to change the world.” How will this prize be accepted on behalf of the City 2.0? Through visionary individuals around the world who are advocating on its behalf.
We are listening to them and giving them the opportunity to collectively craft a wish. A wish capable of igniting a massive collaborative project among the members of the global TED community, and indeed all who care about our planet’s future. (Individuals or organizations who wish to contribute their ideas to a TED Prize wish on behalf of The City 2.0, please write to tedprize@ted.com.)
The wish will be unveiled on February 29, 2012, at the TED Conference in Long Beach, California. On a Leap Year date, we have a chance, collectively, to take a giant leap forward.