For the first time in the history of the TED prize the winning recipient was not an individual — but rather an idea.

The 2012 TED Prize was awarded to the concept City 2.0. The idea of City 2.0 deals with how a growing world population of more than ten billion people (4 billion of which are urbanites) can live sustainably. The idea aims to tap into the world’s collective knowledge to crowdsource ways to cultivate innovation, education, culture and economic opportunity.

The Future of Cities

Some of the pressing world issues the City 2.0 attempts to address are reducing Earth’s carbon footprint, facilitating smaller families and lessening the environmental burden the population puts on the planet. The $100,000 TED prize will be allocated to individuals who advocate on behalf of the goals specified by the City 2.0 and inspire action.

The future of cities around the world is a significant issue. As the population continues to grow more people are locating in urban areas, and cities are becoming more complex, especially those in developing nations. Using ingenuity to solve future problems is imperative as the world grows.

Making San Francisco a City 2.0

We’ve talked before about ways our government can be more innovative to address issues ranging from Muni, better bike infrastructure, green grading buildings, to how to utilize Gov 2.0 tools to make our city more efficient. All of these things are essential components to address not only the issues facing our city now, but especially as San Francisco continues to grow. With you help Reset is working to make San Francisco a City 2.0.