Helen Zille, Mayor of Cape Town with the World Mayor Award, which she won in 2009




FRONT PAGE
About World Mayor





First round:
Candidates sought

• The 2012 longlist
• Code of Ethics
• The World Mayor Price



The 2012 results
The 2012 project
The 2012 shortlist
The 2012 long-list
Code of Ethics | Código de Ética |
The World Mayor Prize
World Mayor Prize winners exchange letters



The 2010 results
The 2010 project
The 2010 finalists
Code of Ethics | Código de Ética |
The World Mayor Prize
Marcelo Ebrard says thank you
Mick Cornett says thank you
Helen Zille and Marcelo Ebrard exchange letters



The 2008 results
The 2008 project
The 2008 finalists
Helen Zille thanks supporters
Mayors of Melbourne and Cape Town exchange letters



With Mayor of Cape Town
With Mayor of Zurich



On Mayor of Cape Town
On Mayor of Chacao
On Mayor of Gothenburg
On Mayor of Guayaquil
On Mayor of Marikina City
On Mayor of Memphis
On Mayor of Nuremberg
On Mayor of Phoenix
On Mayor of Porto Alegre
On Mayor of Tehran
On Mayor of Villa Nueva
On Mayor of Zurich



The 2006 results
Methodology
The 2006 finalists
The World Mayor Award
Dora Bakoyannis congratulates John So



The 2005 results
Contest methodology
List of finalists
Winning mayors write
Mayor Rama writes - Mayor Bakoyannis replies



The 2004 contest
List of all 2004 finalists
Edi Rama wins 2004 award
People ask - Edi Rama replies



Front Page
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About City Mayors


Mayors from 50 cities competed
for the 2008 World Mayor Award

By Tann vom Hove, Editor

Public voting for World Mayor 2008 closed on 1 July 2008. Between January of this year and the end of June more than 200,000 people from around the world cast their votes for and commented on mayors who they thought worthy of the 2008 Award. While all of this year’s 50 long-listed mayors have made significant contributions to the well-being of their communities, eleven of them stand out in terms of number of votes and persuasiveness of supporting statements received.

They are (listed in alphabetical order of their cities}:
• Helen Zille, Mayor of Cape Town, South Africa | Comments | Profile |
• Leopoldo Eduardo López, Mayor of Chacao, Venezuela | Comments | Profile |
• Göran Johansson, Mayor of Gothenburg, Sweden | Comments | Profile |
• Jaime Nebot, Mayor of Guayaquil, Ecuador | Comments | Profile |
• Marides Fernando, Mayor of Marikina City, Philippines | Comments | Profile |
• Ulrich Maly, Mayor of Nürnberg, Germany | Comments | Profile |
• Phil Gordon, Mayor of Phoenix, USA | Comments | Profile |
• José Fogaça, Porto Alegre, Brazil | Comments | Profile |
• Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf, Mayor of Tehran, Iran | Comments | Profile |
• Salvador Gandara, Mayor of Villa Nueva, Guatemala | Comments | Profile |
• Elmar Ledergerber, Mayor of Zurich, Switzerland | Comments | Profile |

Between July and the end of September, the editors of City Mayors, the organisers of the World Mayor project, consulted and take advise on who of the eleven mayors from the final shortlist should receive the 2008 World Mayor Award.

The winner of the 2008 World Mayor Award and other results were announced on 14 October 2008.


The 2008 long-list
Africa | North America | Latin America | Asia | Europe
According to city residents from all continents, a great mayor must possess these qualities: good administrative abilities, able to provide safety and security and protect the environment, as well as having the ability to foster good relations between communities from different cultural, racial and social backgrounds. The World Mayor Project was first carried out in 2004. As in previous years, the 2008 contest again seeks out mayors who have the vision, passion and skills to make their cities amazing places in which to live and work - and visit. The World Mayor Project aims to show what outstanding mayors can achieve, and thus raise their profiles. It honours those who have both served their communities well and contributed to the well being of cities nationally and internationally. The most outstanding mayor of 2008 will be presented with the World Mayor Award.

Based on the number of nominations and the persuasiveness of supporting statements, City Mayors, the organisers of the World Mayor project, drew up a list of 50 finalists. The list included 11 mayors from Asia, 10 from North America and 11 from Latin America, 15 from Europe, as well as 3 from Africa.

Some of thelong-listed finalists for the 2008 World Mayor title were from the world’s best-known and largest cities, while others represent smaller communities. Most of this year’s finalists were listed for the first time. Under the World Mayor rules, winners and runner-ups from previous years were not eligible. They include John So, Lord Mayor of Melbourne (Australia), Job Cohen, Mayor of Amsterdam (Netherlands), Hazel McCallion, Mayor of Mississauga (Canada) and Edi Rama, Mayor of Tirana (Albania)

The 50 finalists of 2008
Names in blue have been profiled (click on link)
AFRICA
Omar El Bahraoui, Mayor of Rabat, Morocco
Helen Zille, Cape Town, South Africa
Amos Masondo, Johannesburg, South Africa


NORTH AMERICA
Stephen Mandel, Edmonton, Canada
Sam Katz, Winnipeg, Canada
Martin Chavez, Albuquerque, USA
Michael B Coleman, Columbus, USA
Mufi Hannemann, Honolulu, USA
Antonio Villaraigosa, Los Angeles, USA
Willie W Herenton, Memphis, USA
Manny Diaz, Miami, USA
Raymond Thomas Rybak, Minneapolis, USA
Phil Gordon, Phoenix, USA


LATIN AMERICA
Julio César Pereyra, Mayor of Florencio Varela, Argentina
José Fogaça, Porto Alegre, Brazil
Juan Contino Aslán, Havana, Cuba
Jaime Nebot, Guayaquil, Ecuador
Paco Moncayo, Quito, Ecuador
Salvador Gandara, Villa Nueva, Guatemala
• Antonio Astiazaran, Guaymas, Mexico
• Ernesto Gandara, Hermosillo, Mexico
Ricardo Ehrlich, Montevideo, Uruguay
Juan Barreto, Caracas, Venezuela
Leopoldo Eduardo López, Chacao, Venezuela


ASIA
Han Zheng, Shanghai, China
Zhang Guangning, Guangzhou, China
C M Sheila Dikshit, Delhi, India
Fauzi Bowo, Jakarta, Indonesia
Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf, Tehran, Iran
Tadatoshi Akiba, Hiroshima, Japan
Hiroshi Nakada, Yokohama, Japan
Marides Fernando, Marikina City, Philippines
Vladimir Gorodets, Novosibirsk, Russia
Park Wan-soo, Changwon City, South Korea
Kadir Topbas, Istanbul, Turkey


EUROPE
Patrick Janssens, Antwerp, Belgium
Boiko Borisov, Sofia, Bulgaria
Eleni Mavrou, Nicosia, Cyprus
Bertrand Delanoë, Paris, France
Pierre Albertini, Rouen, France**
Jens Böhrnsen, Bremen, Germany
Ulrich Maly, Nürnberg, Germany
Wolfgang Schuster, Stuttgart, Germany
Kyriakos Virvidakis, Chania, Greece
Sergio Cofferati, Bologna, Italy
Walter Veltroni, Rome, Italy*
Rafal Dutkiewicz, Wroclaw, Poland
Rosa Aguilar, Cordoba, Spain
Göran Johansson, Gothenburg, Sweden
Elmar Ledergerber, Zurich, Switzerland

*On 13 February 2008 Walter Veltroni resigned as Mayor of Rome to campaign to become Italian Prime Minister. He is now Leader of the Opposition in the Italiian Parliament.
** Pierre Albertini was defeated in local elections held on 9 March 2008.



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