John So, Lord Mayor of Melbourne and winner of the 2006 World Mayor Award



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City Mayors reports news from towns and cities around the world. Worldwide | Elections | North America | Latin America | Europe | Asia | Africa | Events |


Mayors from The Americas, Europe. Asia, Australia and Africa are competing for the annual World Mayor Award. More


City Mayors ranks the world’s largest as well as richest cities and urban areas. It also ranks the cities in individual countries, and provides a list of the capital cities of some 200 sovereign countries. More


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City Mayors lists cities and city organisations, profiles individual mayors and provides information on hundreds of urban events. More


Mayors from 50 cities competed
for the 2008 World Mayor Prize

By Tann vom Hove, Editor

Public voting for World Mayor 2008 has now ended. 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 Prize. 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 now and the end of September, the editors of City Mayors, the organisers of the World Mayor project, will consult and take advise on who of the eleven mayors from the final shortlist should receive the 2008 World Mayor Award.

While public voting has now closed, those with a special interest in local government and the well-being of cities may still submit their preferences, by listing the above city leaders in order or merit  (from 1 to 10.) Interested parties may also submit more substantial written opinion for or against any of the short-listed mayors. (Your full name and contact details need to be supplied, as we may wish to contact to you.) Please write to World Mayor 2008.

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


The 2008 long-list of 50 mayors
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 includes 11 mayors from Asia, 10 from North America and 11 from Latin America, 15 from Europe, as well as 3 from Africa.

Some of the finalists for this year’s World Mayor title were from the world’s best-known and largest cities, while others represent smaller communities. Most of this year’s finalists have been being short-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, US


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 Italian Parliament.
** Pierre Albertini was defeated in local elections held on 9 March 2008.



Helen Zille, Mayor of Cape Town, has been awarded the 2008 World Mayor Prize


World Mayor 2023