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Houston Selected to Participate in C40 Competition for Global Cities to Pave the Way to a Sustainable Future

November 17, 2017 --

Auckland, Cape Town, Chicago, Houston, Lima, Madrid, Milan, Mexico City, Oslo, Paris, Quito, Reykjavik, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador & San Francisco to participate in C40’s Reinventing Cities competition.
New carbon-neutral urban regeneration projects will be launched at 46 sites.

Today 15 of the world’s great cities launched an unprecedented global competition to drive carbon neutral and resilient urban regeneration. C40’s Reinventing Cities initiative has already identified 46 underutilized spaces to redevelop, including several empty plots and abandoned buildings, a former airport, historical mansions, underused car parks, and an abandoned incinerator and landfill.

Sunnyside Solar Project Links

January 14, 2021 -- Houston City Council Approves Largest Brownfield Solar Project in the Nation
October 28, 2020 -- Proposed Sunnyside Landfill Solar Farm Lease Agreement (.pdf, Quality of Life Committee Presentation)
August 29, 2019 -- City Selects Firm Proposing Solar Energy Farm at Former Sunnyside Landfill
November 17, 2017 -- Houston Selected to Participate in C40 Competition for Global Cities to Pave the Way to a Sustainable Future

Through this competition, C40 and these cities invite architects, urban planners, designers, developers, entrepreneurs, environmentalists, start-upers, neighbourhood collectives, innovators and artists to collaborate and compete for the opportunity to transform these sites into new beacons of sustainability and resiliency.

Reinventing Cities launched today in Auckland, Cape Town, Chicago, Houston, Lima, Madrid, Milan, Mexico City, Oslo, Paris, Quito, Reykjavik, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and San Francisco. New cities are expected to join the competition in the coming weeks.

“Hurricane Harvey was a defining moment for the City of Houston. It's not enough for us to rebuild in the same way,” said the Mayor of Houston. “This program is an opportunity to rebuild and revitalize some of Houston’s hardest hit areas and show the world that Houston stands stronger than ever before.”

The competition will serve as a model for cities around the world, demonstrating how the alliance between cities and business can shape the future delivering healthier, greener and economically viable urban development.

The competition’s criteria will favour bids from creative teams that deliver innovative climate solutions in combination with striking architecture and tangible benefits for the local community.

More information on the Reinventing Cities competition, eligibility criteria and the project sites in each city can be found at https://www.c40reinventingcities.org.

The deadline for applications is [April 20th 12am UTC].

Reinventing Cities is made possible thanks to the support of Climate KIC and ofo.

The initiative is inspired by the successful Reinventing Paris scheme, launched by Mayor of Paris and C40 Chair Anne Hidalgo in 2015. Today 22 public spaces, covering 250,000 square metres are being transformed across the French capital.

About the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group
C40 Cities connects more than 90 of the world’s greatest cities, representing 650+ million people and one quarter of the global economy. Created and led by cities, C40 is focused on tackling climate change and driving urban action that reduces greenhouse gas emissions and climate risks, while increasing the health, wellbeing and economic opportunities of urban citizens. The current chair of the C40 is Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo; and three-term Mayor of New York City Michael R. Bloomberg serves as President of the Board. C40’s work is made possible by our three strategic funders: Bloomberg Philanthropies, Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), and Realdania. To learn more about the work of C40 and our cities, please visit www.c40.org, follow us on Twitter @c40cities or Instagram @c40cities and like us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/C40Cities.