Nominations for the third yearly Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA) Halala Awards, which celebrate regeneration and development in the inner city, opened on Thursday.

This year, the ‘Sustaining Joburg' category has been amended to focus on the "green agenda" of development in the Johannesburg central business district.

JDA CEO Lael Bethlehem explained that increasingly more green design was noticeable in the city, with developers incorporating elements such as energy efficiency, water recycling, parks on roof tops, and a general trend to lessen the impact of development on the environment.

Bethlehem further noted that cities were vulnerable to the effects of climate change, and this category - "green building, green city" - was the agency's way of highlighting the issue, and urging designers to think about what they could do to reduce the impact of their buildings and projects in the inner city.

The other categories are: Living Joburg - ‘Not Houses But Homes'; Working and Buying Joburg - ‘Creating a Business Destination'; Relaxing & Playing Joburg - ‘The Recreation Destination'; Caring Joburg - ‘Supporting Joburg's Citizens'; Believing in Joburg (The Stan Nkosi Achievement Award) - ‘Joburg the home of Innovators, Investors & Implementers'; and the Collosseum Award for Innovation - ‘Conservation of Johannesburg's heritage buildings'.

"We have seen a lot of private sector investment in Joburg, and we want to make that more widely known and recognise the energy of the inner city," said Bethlehem.

She also noted that previous winners received recognition from both the city and the private sector, and gained in publicity and marketing from the awards.

The awards sought to encourage and recognise extraordinary effort that breaks new ground in urban regeneration, and advances sustainable economic growth, community well being and the quality of life of Joburg residents.

Considering the wide and diverse range of investors involved in the inner city, the awards also hoped to foster originality, and recognise pioneering programmes and innovative projects initiated by audacious thinkers whose passion opened new horizons in decaying areas.

The Halala awards also encouraged participation, equality and inclusivity, and recognised commitment and dedication to fostering partnerships, initiating joint programmes, and catalysing sustainable developments, which promote social harmony.

Previously, the awards culminated in an award ceremony and gala dinner, however, 2010 would be different, and would give participants more of a chance to showcase their projects.

The awards would be handed over in the third week of May, and a full day investment conference would be held, where investors, and finalists would present their projects, followed by a cocktail event where the awards would be given.

Nominations close on March 19, and could be made by visiting the JDA website. Although this year's nominations process is an online one, the JDA has a team on standby to assist those wishing to nominate a project, but who might not have the facilities.

Once the nominations have been received by the JDA, the agency will follow-up with the developer to get more details on the project, and then site visits with adjudicators will take place.

The shortlist of finalists will be decided by the last week of April.