The Cities for our Future challenge is a global competition run by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) in partnership with the UK National Commission of UNESCO. We’re inviting imaginative problem solvers from the wider field of surveying, urban design, architecture and engineering to submit transformative ideas for projects and policies that solve some of the defining challenges of our time: Rapid Urbanisation, Climate Change and Resource Scarcity.

If you’ve got a transformative idea for a project or policy and you want to make a positive contribution to the world, potentially build your professional profile at an international level and kick start a rewarding and varied career, then this is the competition for you. If you win, there’s also a £50,000 prize up for grabs and the chance to work with experts and mentors from within the surveying industry.

The winner will receive a £50,000 prize and mentorship with industry experts to potentially make their concept a reality.

Visit citiesforourfuture.com, choose a brief from the 3 available topics, and select one of the questions to answer. Read your chosen brief and download the entry document, then complete the entry document and submit it online. Easy!

The competition is open to anyone, apart from employees of the RICS. We’re particularly interested in hearing from young professionals, students or startups in the field of surveying, urban design and engineering, and green technologies.

Yes

There is no minimum or maximum number of members each team can have.

You can enter as many times as you like, but only one complete entry can reach the shortlist phase.

You can enter between 09.00 GMT on 17 January 2018 and 23.59 GMT on 31 May 2018. If you enter before or after this then your entry won’t be valid.

We’ll announce the shortlist by 23:59 GMT on 30 June 2018, and the final global winner will be announced by 23:59 GMT on 30th November 2018.

No, but you can submit it again if there was an error in your original submission. To do this, you must re-download, complete and submit the entry document online once again.

All entries will be judged on their relevance, impact, feasibility, scalability and originality.

A panel of judges including RICS professionals, independent industry figures and representatives from our competition partners.

We can’t give feedback to every entry, but if you are shortlisted you will receive feedback and guidance.

When you upload your entry, you will receive a confirmation within the website - if you’re worried that your entry may have failed to upload, please contact 150@rics.org including the subject line ‘Cities for our Future’. You can always re-submit.

We’ll notify the winner and shortlisted entries via the email address they provided at entry. We will also reveal them on our website, social media and via our partners.

If you’re shortlisted and we’d like you to attend an event to announce the overall winner, we’ll give you a month’s notice. If you can’t make it, don’t worry - it won’t affect your chances of winning.

The prize will be distributed by bank transfer within 28 days of the winner accepting the prize. Any local taxes or associated financial costs associated with the receipt of the prize are the sole responsibility of the winner.

Yes, the individual or individuals who submitted the idea will own its intellectual property.

No. By entering this Promotion, all participants will be deemed to have accepted that they are bound by the terms and conditions for the duration of the competition.