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.