Visakhapatnam wins the Bloomberg Mayors Challenge grant

Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation has been selected as one of the 24 global winners of the prestigious Bloomberg Philanthropies 2025–2026 Mayors Challenge. With this achievement, Visakhapatnam will receive a USD 1 million grant along with technical and operational support, GVMC Commissioner Ketan Garg announced in a news press statement on Wednesday in Vizag.

Explaining the achievement, the Commissioner stated that V-PULL is a model of GVMC, and Visakhapatnam earned international recognition for its innovative civic participation initiative aimed at mitigating the impacts of floods, cyclones, and severe heatwaves through collaborative solutions developed with citizens. The initiative is being implemented under the “Vizag–Prajamukhi Urban Living Lab (V-PULL)” framework, which emphasises a citizen-centric approach, climate resilience, and hyperlocal community engagement.

He further stated that Visakhapatnam stood out among more than 630 applications from across the globe to secure this distinction. In the initial phase, GVMC was shortlisted among the top 50 finalists and received USD 50,000 in seed funding along with technical assistance. With this support, the civic body implemented a pilot project at the local level.

During the pilot phase, GVMC conducted structured ward-level community meetings and tested hyperlocal sensing systems and data-driven decision-making tools. Through participatory climate resilience and disaster preparedness interventions, an effective feedback mechanism was established between citizens and municipal departments. The Commissioner described this international recognition as a matter of pride for the city’s innovative and citizen-driven governance model.

“Being selected as a winner of the Bloomberg Philanthropies 2025–2026 Mayors Challenge is a great honour for GVMC. This recognition strengthens our belief that cities can lead transformative change when innovation is grounded in citizen participation and field-tested solutions,” he stated. The USD 1 million grant will be utilised to strengthen the bottom-up governance approach, enhance disaster preparedness, and expand these initiatives to more wards across the city, he added.

The Visakhapatnam GVMC Commissioner also mentioned that Michael R Bloomberg, Founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies and former Mayor of New York City, stated that the most effective city governments are bold, creative, and proactive in solving problems and responding to residents’ needs, and that the Mayor’s Challenge was launched to help more cities succeed.

In the coming months, GVMC will establish a dedicated innovation implementation team and expand the pilot initiatives to additional wards. The civic body will also strengthen partnerships with academic institutions, civil society organisations, and the private sector. Visakhapatnam shares this global platform with leading international cities such as Rio de Janeiro, Barcelona, Toronto, Cape Town, Budapest, Medellín, and Belfast.

Also read: Job mela in Vizag on February 27

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