The Toyota Mobility Foundation (TMF) today announced that Varanasi, Detroit, and Venice, have been selected to host innovation challenges as part of the TMF’s Sustainable Cities Challenge that aims to help cities reduce carbon, improve access, and enhance data-driven concepts for more resilient transport systems.
Over 150 cities from 46 countries entered the Sustainable Cities Challenge after the call to cities was first launched in June 2023. In November 2023, the shortlist of 10 cities was announced from which the top three were chosen as finalists. These three will be working with Toyota Mobility Foundation, Challenge Works, and World Resources Institute to design local open innovation challenges tailored to their (the cities’) respective mobility needs.
The Challenges will be launched in the upcoming weeks inviting innovators from around the world to address mobility obstacles identified by each city. The focus will be on areas of their respective mobility barriers that can be best addressed through open innovation. The Challenges will encompass different areas of sustainable mobility relevant to their specific context, spanning the expansion of access to safe, affordable, and inclusive modes of transportation.
Varanasi will be launching its City Challenge on June 27, 2024. As one of the most prominent heritage cities in India, it experiences huge influx of tourism, which, while vital to strengthening the city’s tapestry of faith and culture, brings with it concerns of safety and crowding. Therefore, the aim is to make the city, particularly the crowded areas of Varanasi’s old city (Kashi), safer and more accessible to both pilgrims and local residents. The Varanasi City Challenge would seek to address these concerns by generating innovative, data-driven solutions incorporating elements of technology and design.
It must also be noted that while the innovators can be from anywhere around the world, the solutions must be applicable and tailored to meet the mobility needs of the respective cities. In late 2024, solutions that best meet the needs of the cities will be selected and have access to a share of USD three million per city in innovation grants for demonstrations and pilot tests. In 2026, the winners of the challenge will be selected for further scaling and implementation.
The Sustainable Cities Challenge is funded by the Toyota Mobility Foundation, and has been designed in partnership with Challenge Works and World Resources Institute to bring cities and innovators together to develop sustainable, inclusive, data-driven mobility solutions fit for the future.
Established in August 2014, the Toyota Mobility Foundation (TMF) is dedicated to fostering a more mobile society in which everyone can move freely. By leveraging Toyota’s expertise and technologies, TMF partners with various stakeholders to address mobility issues worldwide, aligning its initiatives with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).