NewCities, together with partners Novartis Foundation, Novartis US Foundation, and the City of Montréal, has announced Kigali, Rwanda as the Public Health Laureate for the 2019 Wellbeing City Award.

The prestigious Wellbeing City Award is the first international initiative to recognize and honour city governments placing wellbeing at the center of urban planning and policymaking.

The City of Kigali has been selected for their Kigali Car Free Day. Every first and third Sunday of the month, the citizens of Kigali are encouraged to leave their car at home and attend a free community event with sports activities and medical check-ups. The regular event was introduced in 2016 by the City of Kigali City. It has been attended by thousands of citizens and combines health and environmental benefits for citizens including improving air quality, increasing physical activity, and preventing chronic diseases.

Marie Chantal Rwakazina, Mayor of the City of Kigali, said: “We are so excited the City of Kigali has been selected as a laureate of the 2019 Wellbeing City Award in the Public Health category. This is a vote of confidence for Kigali Car Free Day as an activity that promotes healthy living and wellbeing in the city.

We thank our citizens who have embraced the Car Free Days and all our partners who have made this innovative activity a success. We shall continue fostering the wellbeing of our citizens and we intend to multiply efforts and expand the Car Free Day.”

John Rossant, NewCities Founder and Chair, said: “Wellbeing is enhanced by bold design, but not founded upon it. The foundation of happy and healthy cities and citizens is proactive policymaking that looks to wellbeing as the central organizing principle.

Our Jury of Experts was delighted to see this very commitment from the City of Kigali. We are seeing an increase in popularity around Car Free Days, however Kigali are taking it a step further by mobilizing the community around activities that promote and increase wellbeing. It is fantastic to see and I congratulate them for being this year’s Public Health laureate - it is well deserved!”

More than 100 cities from 27 countries were considered in the first year of the Award. The finalist applications were reviewed by an esteemed Jury of Experts including Arianna Huffington, Dr. Aisa Kirabo Kacyira, and Daniel Libeskind.

Four other cities have been announced in the Award categories: Santa Monica, USA (Community); Pune, India (Economy and Opportunity); Lisbon, Portugal (Sustainable Environment); and Milan, Italy (2019 Wellbeing City).

The annual Award has been developed by NewCities in partnership with the Novartis Foundation, the Novartis US Foundation, and in collaboration with the City of Montréal, Toyota Mobility Foundation, Transdev, and the US Green Building Council.

A formal ceremony acknowledging the Wellbeing City Laureates will be held at The Wellbeing Cities Forum in Montréal on June 19 and 20, 2019.