Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft

The second edition of the Deutsche Bank Urban Age Award attracted 133 entries from across the São Paulo metropolitan area, twice as many as those submitted for Mumbai in 2007. The submissions reflected the Paulistanos’ vibrancy and ingenuity in responding to the severe environmental. In addition, the international jury singled out three projects for special mention::

1. the “Cooperativa Nova Esperança” reclycing initiative in the peripheral “Vila Nova” district;

2. the "Biourban" iurban intervention scheme in the “Mauro” favela; and

3. the Instituto ACAIA's project for an arts workshop and public space interventions in favelas in the Vila Leopoldina.

All schemes responded to the award’s objectives to celebrate projects that improve the environment of city dwellers lives and promote new partnerships between the city’s local actors and institutional agencies.

Considering the high quality of the projects, Gary Hattem, Managing Director of the Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation, spontaneously decided to reward the three finalists: Instituto ACAIA, Cooperativa de Reciclagem Nova Esperança e BioUrban, with $ 5,000 dollars each.

The jury, composed of seven international urban experts and local figures with knowledge of city's diverse urban communities, met in São Paulo on 9-10 November 2008. Members included Brazil football star Raí, whose own foundation is dedicated to the improvement of young people in the city's favelas; the filmmaker Tata Amaral and leading arts curator Lisette Lagnado, and one of São Paulo's foremost emerging architects Fernando de Mello Franco. They were joined by the former Mayor of Washington DC's Anthony Williams and Ricky Burdett, an urban expert from the London School of Economics who acted as chairman of the jury. New York and Mexico City-based architect Enrique Norten was unable to participate in the jury sessions.

After selecting a shortlisted of twelve highly qualified submissions, the jury visited a selection of projects to inspect their implementation on the ground and evaluate their impact on the built environment and local communities to confirm their adherence to the Deutsche Bank Urban Age's Award selection criteria.