World Mayor is a biennial award organized by the City Mayors Foundation since 2004. It intends to raise the profile of mayors worldwide, as well as honour those who have served their communities well and who have contributed to the well-being of cities, nationally and internationally. The organisers make it plain that the award has no connection with any city or organization and is run on strictly non-commercial lines. Helen Zille and Leopoldo Lopez discussed their 2008 nominations on the BBC World Service programme Outlook. The Guardian looked at contenders for the 2014 prize. [1] The 2018 World Mayor Project was dedicated to women mayors. [2] The 2020 World Mayor Project is dedicated to mayors who have made the relief of poverty one of their top priorities. [3] The winner of the 2021 World Mayor Prize Ahmed Aboutaleb was presented with his award at a ceremony held in the Dutch Senate by its President Jan Anthonie Bruijn. [4]
The 2023 World Mayor Prize was dedicated to Friendship between Cities. It will be awarded to a mayor and city that have made outstanding contributions to friendship and cooperation between towns and cities at home and across borders.
The 2025 World Mayor Prize is dedicated to 'Mayors Fighting Poverty'. The organisers of the World Mayor Project are seeking mayors from large cities, towns and villages who have put measures in place to support the least well-off in their communities. We are looking for initiatives that other towns can apply. The initiatives may be small-scale or have the potential to provide poverty relief beyond the mayors’ communities.
The 2025 World Mayor Project will be run on the World Mayor 2025 and Women Mayors platforms.
The City Mayors Foundation commissions the trophy presented as the World Mayor Prize. The trophy was conceived by Tann vom Hove. It was designed by artist Manuel Ferrari and is handmade out of steel by the metalworker Kaspar Swankey. [5]
Notable winners include (subsequent political offices): Edi Rama (Prime Minister of Albania), Dora Bakoyannis (Greek foreign minister) and Marcelo Ebrard (Mexican foreign minister), while runners-up (or top 10 finalists) have included Andrés Manuel López Obrador (President of Mexico), Job Cohen (Dutch Labour opposition leader), Joko Widodo (President of Indonesia), Gavin Newsom (Governor of California), Leopoldo López (Venezuelan opposition leader), Cory Booker (US Senator) and John Hickenlooper (US Senator and former Governor of Colorado).
Riace (Italy) mayor Domenico Lucano, who came third in the 2010 poll, was arrested in October 2018 on various immigration-related charges. The mayor of Gdańsk Paweł Adamowicz, who was assassinated in January 2019, had ranked ninth in the 2016 poll.
The 2025 World Mayor Project will be run on the World Mayor and Women Mayors platforms.
The City Mayors Foundation, also known as City Mayors, is an international think tank dedicated to urban affairs. [6] It has been active since 2003 and runs the biennial World Mayor Prize, as well as providing pro bono consultancy services. Unlike Eurocities and United Cities and Local Governments it is wholly independent of any city. [7]
| Year | Name | Mayor of | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Edi Rama |  Tirana | |
| 2005 | Dora Bakoyannis |  Athens | |
| 2006 | John So |  Melbourne | |
| 2008 | Helen Zille |  Cape Town | |
| 2010 | Marcelo Ebrard |  Mexico City | |
| 2012 | Iñaki Azkuna |  Bilbao | |
| 2014 | Naheed Nenshi |  Calgary | |
| 2016 | Bart Somers |  Mechelen | |
| 2018 | Valeria Mancinelli |  Ancona | |
| 2021 | Ahmed Aboutaleb |  Rotterdam | |
| Philippe Rio |  Grigny | ||
| 2023 | Elke Kahr |  Graz |
Joaquim Alberto Chissano is a Mozambican politician who served as the second President of Mozambique, from 1986 to 2005. He is credited with transforming the war-torn country of Mozambique into a successful African democracy. After his presidency, Chissano became an elder statesman, envoy and diplomat for both his home country and the United Nations. Chissano also served as Chairperson of the African Union from 2003 to 2004.
Andrés Manuel López Obrador, also known by his initials AMLO, is a Mexican politician who served as the 65th president of Mexico from 2018 to 2024. He previously served as Head of Government of Mexico City from 2000 to 2005.
The People's Reform Party is a political party in the Philippines. Founded on April 12, 1991, as the political party of former Agrarian Reform Secretary Miriam Defensor Santiago for her bid as president in the 1992 Presidential Elections. During the 1992 Elections, the party nominated Santiago as president and Ramon "Jun" Magsaysay, Jr. as vice president, however both Santiago and Magsaysay lost the elections to former Defense Secretary Fidel Ramos and then-Senator Joseph Estrada, respectively. The Force of Reform Philippines (FORPH) serves as the official youth-wing of the People's Reform Party. While under the same Miriam Defensor Santiago wing, the Youth Reform Movement is not related to the PRP.
Marcelo Luis Ebrard Casaubón is a Mexican politician who has served as the secretary of economy since 2024. He previously served as Secretary of Foreign Affairs under President Andrés Manuel López Obrador from 2018 to 2023. He served as Head of Government of the Federal District from 2006 to 2012.
Zurab Konstantinovich Tsereteli is a Georgian-Russian painter, sculptor and architect known for large-scale and at times controversial monuments. Tsereteli has served as the President of the Russian Academy of Arts since 1997.
Leopoldo Eduardo López Mendoza is a Venezuelan opposition leader. López was elected mayor of the Chacao Municipality of Caracas in the regional elections held in July 2000. He is the National Coordinator of another political party, Voluntad Popular, which he founded in 2009. He is a Venezuelan politician, economist, and sociologist.
Morihiko Hiramatsu was a Japanese politician who was governor of Ōita Prefecture from April 1979 to April 2003. He is best known for initiating the One Village One Product movement in the prefecture, which was later followed by various other countries.
Juan Manuel Santos Calderón is a Colombian politician who was the President of Colombia from 2010 to 2018. He was the sole recipient of the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize.
The National College is a Mexican honorary academy with a strictly limited membership created by presidential decree in 1943 in order to bring together the country's foremost artists and scientists, who are periodically invited to deliver lectures and seminars in their respective area of speciality. Membership is generally a lifelong commitment, although it could be forfeited under certain conditions. It should not be confused with El Colegio de México, a public institution of higher education and research.
Antonio José Ledezma Díaz is a Venezuelan lawyer, opposition politician and former political prisoner. After unsuccessfully challenging for the leadership of Democratic Action in 1999, he founded a new party, the Fearless People's Alliance.
The Bienal de La Habana was an traditional Latin, Caribbean event, originated in Havana, Cuba, that aims to raise awareness to promote contemporary art and giving priority to Latin-American and Caribbean artists.
The Gusi Peace Prize is a private award given by the Gusi Peace Prize Foundation, based in Manila, Philippines. The Gusi Peace Prize is given to recognize individuals and organizations who contribute to global peace and progress through a wide variety of fields. It is conferred with the expectation that a recipient will continue working for peace.
Popular Will is a political party in Venezuela founded by former Mayor of Chacao, Leopoldo López, who is its national co-ordinator. The party previously held 14 out of 167 seats in the Venezuelan National Assembly, the country's parliament, and is a member of the Democratic Unity Roundtable, the electoral coalition that held a plurality in the National Assembly between 2015 and 2020. The party describes itself as progressive and social-democratic, and was admitted into the Socialist International in December 2014. The party was formed in reaction to complaints of infringements of individual freedom and human rights on the part of the government of the Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez and his successor, Nicolás Maduro. The party attempts to bring together Venezuelans of various backgrounds who consider Chavismo oppressive and authoritarian. Popular Will self-identifies itself as "a pluralist and democratic movement" that is committed to "progress", which it defines as the realization of "the social, economic, political, and human rights of every Venezuelan." The party says its "fundamental pillars" are progress, democracy, and social action.
The 2012 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the European Union (EU) "for over six decades [having] contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe" by a unanimous decision of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
The City Mayors Foundation, also known as City Mayors, is an international think tank dedicated to urban affairs. It has been active since 2003 and runs the biennial World Mayor award, as well as providing pro bono consultancy services. Unlike Eurocities and United Cities and Local Governments it is wholly independent of any city.
Mariana Yampolsky was a Mexican-American photographer. A significant figure in 20th-century Mexican photography, she specialized in capturing photos of common people in everyday situations in the rural areas of the country. She was born in the United States, but came to Mexico to study art and never left, becoming a Mexican citizen in 1958. Her career in photography began as a sideline to document travels and work in the arts and politics, but she began showing her photography in the 1960s. From then until her death in 2002, her work was exhibited internationally receiving awards and other recognition both during her lifetime and posthumously.
Óliver Lis or Andres Oliver Ucros & Licht is a Colombian editor, literary agent, author, psychologist, film producer, screenwriter, international journalist.
Lilian Adriana Tintori Parra is a Venezuelan activist, athlete, and television and radio host. Tintori is married to Leopoldo López, a Venezuelan politician sentenced in 2015 to nearly 14 years in prison for inciting violence during street protests the year before. She has also led groups who have opposed the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Valeria Mancinelli is an Italian politician.
Richard Josef Arnold is a German politician. A member of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, he has served as the Lord Mayor (Oberbürgermeister) of Schwäbisch Gmünd since 2009 and is the city's first openly gay mayor. As mayor, he has pushed for opening up the city to refugees. Previously, Arnold was the head of the State Agency of Baden-Württemberg to the European Union.
