New Plymouth is in line to be named the best place in the world to live.
UPDATE NOVEMBER 11 2008 – NEW PLYMOUTH HAS WON THE TOP CITY IN THE WORLD AWARD. Click to view article.
But we up against some solid opposition from standout towns in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Canada, Switzerland, England, Poland and China.
England-headquartered International Awards for Liveable Communities has just announced nine finalists for this year’s awards, which will be judged and announced in China in early November.
New Plymouth is the only New Zealand community to be shortlisted for any of the awards, and it is in line for two of them – a Whole City award for communities with populations between 20,000 and 75,000, and the coastal walkway has been shortlisted to win the 2008 title as the world’s best environmentally sustainable project.
District Mayor Peter Tennent, chief executive Barbara McKerrow, and general manager of community assets Anthony Wilson are all to travel to the judging event to make presentations on behalf of New Plymouth.
“Just to be a finalist in both these categories means greater awareness of what New Plymouth and New Zealand have to offer in terms of a great lifestyle both now and in the future,” Mr Tennent said yesterday.
“If we win either or both of these awards, the benefits through worldwide public awareness could be huge.”
The awards, which were launched in 1997, are endorsed by the United Nations and are the world’s only awards that focus on best practice regarding management of the local environment.
The objective of the awards is to encourage innovation and leadership in providing a vibrant and environmentally sustainable community that improves the quality of life of the people who live there.
The communities aren’t judged against each other, but on how they are performing against criteria that ranges from enhancement of the landscape and management of heritage, to healthy lifestyles and planning for the future.
There are nine communities in line for the Whole City award, and they include Chrudim, in the Czech Republic, which is known as the Athens of eastern Bohemia, the Hungarian wine city of Eger, Switzerland’s beautiful lakeside centre of Montreux, the historic English market town of Newark on Trent, Poland’s mountain community of Powiat Tatrzanski, and the water town of Zhujiajiao, which is known as the Venice of China.
New Plymouth’s hugely popular coastal walkway joins 11 other finalists for the title of the world’s best environmentally sustainable project – the judging criteria for this honour is that the projects must demonstrate sustainability and environmental awareness, and encourage the maximum positive impact on the local environment.
There’s a variety of projects on the shortlist, including a model sustainable community called UniverCity at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, a city centre redevelopment at Jordan’s Greater Irbid Municipality, which aims to preserve the city’s cultural identity, the Cosmo City mixed-race housing development in South Africa, and a culture heritage trail in Poland.
Mr Tennent said he was hugely enthusiastic about New Plymouth being named a finalist for the awards.
“Basically this says that out of all the countries in the world, New Plymouth is one of just nine cities that could receive the ultimate accolade as the best place to live,” he said.
“The people who live and work here already think this part of New Zealand is pretty special – but now we have an independent panel of international judges who have looked at what we’ve got, and noticed that something pretty outstanding is happening here.”
source: Taranaki Daily News 23/09/2008