2012 TED Prize Wish: City 2.0

Every year the TED Prize is awarded to an individual who demonstrates activism towards a certain cause.  Notable winners include street artist JR, and celebrity chef Jamie Oliver.  Differently in 2012 the TED Prize was awarded to an idea rather then a person, the idea is the concept of the City 2.0.  The wish was revealed on February 29th after three highly regarded individuals spoke about the concept.  The speakers speaking on behalf of the City 2.0 included Ed Glaeser, the Harvard economist, Eduardo Paes, the mayor of the 2016 Summer Olympics host city Rio de Janeiro, and Suja Lowenthal, the former Mayor of Long Beach.  All speakers emphasized the pros to urbanization, as cities aid communication, learning, growth, opportunity and, innovation. The TED Prize wish for 2012 is for the public to create the City 2.0.  The City 2.0 according to the City 2.0 website is, "a platform created by the TED Prize to assist citizens anywhere in the creating their own City 2.0. It will become an ever-expanding network and knowledge base of city projects, with the ability to scale successes, learn lessons from failures, and instigate global action." The City 2.0 is essentially the idea of the ultimate city, which is efficient, environmentally friendly, and most importantly sustainable.  To have a closer look or  to get involved with the City 2.0 project, head to their website at http://www.thecity2.org/index.php.  You can watch the wish above.