The Bay Awards Gala Ceremony and Summit 2024

Dementia-Friendly Neighbourhoods Project Wins in the Bilbao Bay Award’s Horizon Shaper Category

The Dementia-Friendly Neighbourhoods Project was honoured as the Winner of the Horizon Shaper Category at The Bay Awards 2024, chosen from over 100 global projects for its impactful approach to urban environments through empathy-driven design. The Bay Awards are the result of the work and effort of Bilbao Metropoli 30 and its partners to recognise good practice in the development of cities and urban strategy worldwide.

At the WRLDCTY & The Bay Awards Summit organised by Bilbao Metropoli 30, in partnership with Resonance, Elaine Tan, Director, Research, Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC), represented the project in a Debate Session among finalists of the Horizon Shapers’ Category.

She shared the Project’s pioneering work in developing 3xP Design Thinking Framework—Process, Principles, and Products—ensuring that every design phase reflects inclusivity, user engagement, and cross-sector collaboration. This framework aligns urban design, healthcare, and local grassroots efforts to create a sustainable model for dementia-friendly cities, addressing dementia's impact on individuals, caregivers, and communities.

Key aspects of the Project include:

• User-Centric Insights: First-person data from people living with dementia (PLWD) helped shape spaces responsive to their unique needs, especially for those facing communication challenges.

• Cross-Sector Collaboration: Integrating domain knowledge by bridging alignment of professionals and academics across the healthcare and built environment sectors, aligning and harmonising parallel ongoing efforts by other agencies in a fragmented landscape for planning and designing dementia-friendly built environments

• Sustainability: Local grassroots involvement ensures that designs remain practical and maintainable well beyond the project’s end, embedding long-term resilience and adaptability into each community.

Elaine also highlighted that the Dementia-Friendly Neighbourhoods Project is more than a local success; it’s a global call to action for cities worldwide to address the needs of persons living with dementia in their urban landscapes. Winning the Horizon Shaper award not only acknowledges this Project's pioneering work, but also reinforces the urgent need for dementia-friendly design as an essential part of future city planning. This initiative serves as a scalable model for cities around the world seeking to create dementia-friendly environments that prioritise dignity, autonomy, and inclusion for all residents.

Resilience and Regeneration Strategies for Urban Innovation Panel Supported by the City Network for the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize (LKYWCP Network)

Members of the LKYWCP Network also participated in a panel discussion at the WRLDCTY and The Bay Awards Summit 2024 on urban resilience and rejuvenation, a key priority for the Network cities. Moderated by Michael Koh, Executive Fellow, CLC, panellists included representatives from Bilbao, Medellín, New York, Seoul, and Vienna. Each city offered unique insights into creating adaptable, liveable cities through integrated approaches to infrastructure, community engagement, and climate resilience.

A recurring theme across all cities was the critical need for multifaceted resilience strategies that transcend physical infrastructure to consider social, environmental, and economic dimensions. Cities need to build flexibility into their systems to adapt to changing climate patterns, economic pressures, and demographic shifts. Bilbao’s Eider Inunciaga, Bilbao City Councillor in charge of Basque Language, Public Services, Civic Engagement, Agenda 2030 and Internationalization, highlighted that effective urban rejuvenation relies on combining strategic planning with community involvement, a concept echoed in each city’s initiatives. For instance, Bilbao’s revitalisation projects—Abandoibarra, Zorrotzaurre, Puntazorrotza, and Penaskal—show how former industrial areas can be transformed into cultural and knowledge hubs, emphasising sustainable housing and green spaces. By converting abandoned spaces into vibrant neighbourhoods, Bilbao prioritises inclusivity and eco-friendly urban growth, setting a strong example of how cities can regenerate without losing community value.

In New York, Zoe Baldwin, Vice President, State Programs, Regional Plan Association, highlighted projects such as the Gateway Tunnel and Interborough Express as essential for overcoming urban bottlenecks and increasing accessibility in underserved areas. The "City of Yes" policy encourages streamlined housing development to reduce housing shortages and boost sustainable growth across boroughs. This reflects a larger theme: resilience through connectivity. Improved transit systems and efficient housing production make cities more accessible, reinforcing equity and inclusivity. For cities like New York, the balance between growth and liveability is crucial for sustaining an urban environment that is both functional and fair.

Seoul’s approach, as described by Kim In-hee, Head of 100 Years Urban Research Center, Seoul Institute, hinges on long-term citizen-driven planning with a visionary 100-year strategy. This plan fosters a culture of collaboration among citizens, businesses, and officials, recognising that urban resilience is as much about social cohesion as it is about infrastructure. Such initiatives underscore that resilience must be built on local priorities and collective action, ensuring that growth aligns with residents’ needs.

Medellín’s Simon Arango (Ruta N, Leader Smart Cities, Medellin) showcased smart city projects that incorporate green corridors and electric transport as the city prioritises sustainability. Medellín’s emphasis on technology-enabled green spaces reinforces the idea that technology, when combined with sustainable practices, can enable cities to be more liveable and responsive to environmental needs.

Johannes Lutter, Head of Strategic Partnerships and International Affairs, Urban Innovation Vienna, shared the Smart Climate City strategy, which includes transitioning energy sources and creating neighbourhood oases. Vienna’s community-centric initiatives demonstrate that active community participation in designing public spaces fosters a strong sense of ownership and civic pride, enhancing resilience from the ground up. By allowing residents to shape their surroundings, Vienna builds a resilient and adaptable city structure that prioritises human-centered development.

The session concluded with a shared vision of collaborative urban resilience where genuine community engagement is seen as fundamental. Bilbao’s urban master plan, which uses local and strategic integration to measure engagement success, exemplifies how cities can evaluate and adapt policies to meet residents’ needs. Medellín and Seoul emphasized that grassroots engagement and transparent collaboration among local governments, community leaders, and residents are essential to building resilient, liveable cities.

This panel also reinforced that while cities face unique challenges, the principles of equitable access, environmental stewardship, and community participation are universal. Urban resilience and rejuvenation are long-term, evolving processes that require cities to balance growth with the well-being of their residents, ensuring that cities are not only resilient to future challenges but also places of opportunity and quality living for all.