NEW YORK (AP) — Unemployment, energy efficiency and obesity are the top concerns targeted by some 155 European cities competing to out-innovate each other in a lucrative contest launched by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, his foundation announced Wednesday.

Municipalities from London high-tech-friendly Oulu, in northern Finland, to the picturesque old port of Chania, on the Greek island of Crete, applied for the first-time European contest by a Jan. 31 deadline, Bloomberg Philanthropies said. The cities span 28 countries and include 19 capitals, from Dublin, Ireland, to Ankara, Turkey.