Kigali shortlisted for Wellbeing City Award for car-free day initiative


Devdiscourse News Desk | Kigali | Updated: 05-02-2019 17:52 IST | Created: 05-02-2019 17:52 IST
Kigali shortlisted for Wellbeing City Award for car-free day initiative
According to the Advisor to the Mayor of the City of Kigali, Bruno Rangira, Kigali is being nominated for its car-free day initiative. Image Credit: Wikipedia
  • Country:
  • Rwanda

Rwanda’s capital, Kigali has been nominated among 16 finalists for the first edition of the Wellbeing City Award. The award is intended to raise the profile of and recognize the cities placing their citizens’ wellbeing in the heart of their design.

The Wellbeing City Award is the world’s first global competition recognizing city-led action on urban wellbeing, and Rwanda’s capital that has been nominated in the public health category is the only African city among the last 16. According to the Advisor to the Mayor of the City of Kigali, Bruno Rangira, the city was nominated for its car-free day initiative, as reported by The New Times.

Currently, the city dedicates the first and third Sundays of the month as car free days. A number of roads are closed during those days to allow the city residents in engaging in physical activities and exercises for better health between 7 and 10 am. During these hours, people are majorly seen running, jogging, exercising, riding bicycles among other physical activities.

A globally-acclaimed non-profit organization, NewCities has developed the awards, which intends to make a better urban future including the most progressive and innovative ideas to drive positive changes in cities through events, research and urban innovation projects. The organization is known for dedicatedly working with leaders from governments, businesses, civil societies, media and arts.

More than 100 cities from 27 countries and six continents were considered for the award. Only 16 cities made it to the final list which has four categories of awards.

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