Bilbao
wins European City of the Year at 2018 Urbanism Awards
Bilbao has
been named European City of the Year at the 2018 Urbanism Awards. The Spanish
city fought off strong competition from fellow finalists Ljubljana and Vienna
after a summer of assessment visits and subsequent vote by Academicians. The
award was collected by the city’s Mayor, Juan Mari Aburto, who delivered a
seminar on the reasons behind Bilbao’s success.
The award is one of five given out each year by
The Academy of Urbanism, a network of built environment experts from across
Europe. The awards recognize Britain and Ireland’s best place, street,
neighbourhood and town, as well as Europe’s best city. The Academy judges
against a number of social, economic and environmental factors, including good
governance and commercial success.
Judges praised the Basque city for having
transformed itself from the post-industrial economic doldrums of the 1990s
through investment in culture, bold leadership and clever use of economic
policies.
David Rudlin, chair of the Academy, said:
“Bilbao is a great example of the wholesale transformation of a former
industrial city – not just physically, but socially, economically and
culturally. The rejuvenation it has achieved over the past 30 years is nothing
short of remarkable. All of this has been achieved through bold and effective
leadership, the likes of which has seen the city run debt-free since 2010.”
Unit 1: GADGETS
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Unit 2: GEOGRAPHICAL
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