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The Cities Alliance is proud to launch – in
collaboration with the World Bank and the Government
of Norway - the
2008 International Youth Essay Competition. The
theme for this year’s competition is
“Urbanisation” and
participants are invited to submit essays on the
topic: “What Can You Do to Shape the City of your
Dreams?”
Today, more than half of the world’s people live in
cities and projections are that this will rise to
two thirds by 2030. Life in the city is often
associated with more opportunities, better access to
employment, education, health and other services.
Cities are often called engines of economic growth,
contributing disproportionately to the national
gross domestic product (GDP). They are also centers
of innovation, entrepreneurship and investment. But
many cities also have a large part of their
population living in slums, without essential
services such as water, sanitation and energy, and
threatened by environmental hazards, violence and
social exclusion. As more and more people move from
the countryside to the city, and as city populations
grow, there is a growing need for solutions to the
issues of urban poverty, environment, and urban
infrastructure (housing, roads, water, energy etc.).
How do young people respond to this unique dynamic
of cities? Youth between the ages of 18 and 25 (born
between 1983 - 1990) are invited to contribute to
the debate by submitting their views on,
"What Can You Do to Shape
the City of their Dreams?" Submission is
entirely internet-based. If you are eligible please
click on the following link to access more details
on the Essay competition and to submit your entry:
http://www.essaycompetition.org/
Deadline for submission is
March 23, 2008. Finalists will be
announced by April 30, 2008 with prizes awarded to
them during the World Bank Annual Bank Conference on
Development Economics (ABCDE), taking place June 11,
in Cape Town South Africa.
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