The following twelve initiatives, selected by an independent, international Jury on 29 March 1996, received the prestigious Dubai International Award for Best Practices in Improving the Living Environment and the Tokyo Award for Excellence. The Awards were presented during a special ceremony during the Habitat II Conference in Istanbul, Turkey, on 4 June 1996.

• Project on Sites and Services for Low-income Families, Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Integration Council in the Favelas Rehabilitation Process, Fortaleza, Brazil
• Metro Toronto’s Changing Communities: Innovative Responses, Canada
• Post-calamity Reconstruction of Anhui Province’s Rural Areas, China
• Successful Institutionalisation of Community-based Development, Cote d’Ivoire
• The Self Employed Women’s Bank (SEWA), India
• Shelter Upgrading in Agadir, Morocco
• City Management in Tilburg, The Netherlands
• Local Initiatives Programme, Lublin, Poland
• Community Information Resource Centre, Alexandra, South Africa
• “Don’t Move, Improve!” Banana Kelly, South Bronx, United States of America
• City of Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States of America

The Selection Process
The initiatives were selected from 700 submissions received from over 80 countries around the world. An independent Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) met in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, from 26 February 1996 to 1 March 1996 to assess the submissions’ compliance with the three criteria for a Best Practice: impact, partnership and sustainability. The TAC identified 104 of the submissions as Best Practices and prepared a short list of 43 submissions for consideration by the Best Practices Jury.
The Jury met in Toronto, Canada, from 28 to 29 March 1996 to select the 12 recipients of the 1996 Dubai International Award and the Tokyo Award for Excellence.

For further information on the selection process, please consult the TAC Report and Jury Report or contact:

Best Practices and Local Leadership Programme (BLP)
UN-Habitat
P.O. Box 30030, Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: (254 20) 623029; 623799; 624328
Fax: (254 20) 623080, 624266, 624267
Email: bestpractices@unhabitat.org

Municipality of Dubai, United Arab Emirates
P.O. Box 67, Dubai, U.A.E.
Tel: (971 4) 215555
Fax: (971 4) 246666
Email: dm@dm.gov.ae