D&AD Impact Award winners in the Urban Living categories are celebrated ideas that improve the material aspects of urban living, providing innovative solutions for habitation, business and transport within an urban context and meeting the needs of the growing global urban population.
This could be effective social housing; carbon neutral buildings; transport infrastructure that benefits a city or country; schemes that repurpose or renovate existing structures like warehouses, canals and railways; initiatives that revitalize neighborhoods through considered and holistic design, construction and engineering; dynamic leadership in architecture, urbanism and planning.
During the 2016 Impact Awards, pencil award winners demonstrated outstanding work in urban living in many unique ways. Winner of the prestigious White Pencil Award, one of the highest honors at D&AD Impact, “Give a Beep” sought to change bicycle safety in London where the booming population put bicyclists and drivers alike at a greater risk. In London, a cyclist is involved in a road traffic accident every other hour. To directly address the issue, Hovding, in collaboration with Edelman Deportivo, created the “Flic” to create awareness and to make people “give a beep” about cyclist safety. The “Flic” was passed out to over 500 cyclists throughout London, and riders were told to press it whenever they felt “scared or frustrated” on the roads. For every beep, an email was sent to London Mayor Sadiq Khan, and the location was plotted out on a real-time map. That data meant making real change by giving a heads up on which dangerous locations cyclists should avoid, while also encouraging politicians to take real action.
Another White Pencil winner at the 2016 awards, “Flow” was created from one man’s love for bees and the natural world, but also from his frustration for the loss of bees during the honey harvesting process. For nearly a decade, the Flow creators worked to uncover the best way to harvest honey that was less harmful to the bees – and the beekeepers. A complicated discovery of one successful design soon led to one of the most successful crowdfunding campaigns in history. Flow began with a humble goal of $70,000, and quickly reached that goal in 477 seconds flat. The campaign eventually raised $4,256,970 with over 9,000 contributors – while still maintaining its core intention to raise awareness for how crucial bees are to the natural world.
Have a project or initiative that seeks to impact the world through urban living? Learn more about the Urban Living category, other Impact categories, and how to enter to win a D&AD Impact Award during Advertising Week New York this September.
D&AD Impact seeks to identify and celebrate great, transformative ideas that contribute towards a better, fairer and more sustainable future for all. If you think you have a campaign that makes a real and positive difference to the world then why not enter it into D&AD Impact.
