Seoul City said Monday that it received the Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation (the “Guangzhou Award”), an award co-hosted by Metropolis, Guangzhou Municipal Government and the United Cities and Local Governments. They received a trophy and prize money of $20,000 last Friday.

Vancouver (Canada), Vienna (Austria), Kocaeli (Turkey) and Lilongwe (Malawi) have also received the award.

UCLG is a local government organization established in 2004 with over 1,000 cities and 112 Local Government Associations as direct members. Metropolis, established in 1985, is represented by more than 120 members across the world for exploring issues common in metropolitan regions.

The Guangzhou Award was set up to reward model cities that provide sustainability and innovation to improve their cities, and was established in order to foster innovation, promote cooperation and encourage joint development. This year 153 cities from 56 countries applied for the first Guangzhou Award.

For innovation, Seoul was awarded the Guangzhou Award for its teenage prostitution prevention program “SHE Project,” which provides education about teenage prostitution and runs an online prostitution watch, as well as a drop-in center for runaway teens and teenagers involved in prostitution.

The Seoul Internet Addiction Prevention Program was selected for its sustainability potential. Seoul City set up a counseling center for Internet addiction in 2007, and has been providing prevention education and counseling for teenagers and parents.

By Sang Youn-joo (sangyj@heraldcorp.com)