European Prize for Urban Public Space 2026

The CCCB announces the 13th edition of the European Prize for Urban Public Space, which is open for entries from 10 December to 26 February 2026. 

This year, the Prize is celebrating its 25th anniversary, consolidating an extensive trajectory that is unique in Europe for its central objective: to promote the debate on urban responses to climate emergency, social inequality and the transformation of mobility. 

The international Jury, chaired by architect Eva Prats, is made up of six members with recognised experience, all architects and urban designers with backgrounds in academia and public management from Austria, Poland, Portugal, Belgium, Switzerland and Spain. 

Organized by the CCCB, the Prize is backed by a network of 10 architecture and urban planning institutions and 50 experts from across the continent.

The Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB) announces the 13th edition of the European Prize for Urban Public Space. Since 2000, this biennial honorary competition recognizes the best interventions to create, transform and recover public spaces in European cities. For the first time, in this edition the time limit for works submitted is extended to 5 years (completed between the months of January 2021 and December 2025). The call for entries will be open for two and a half months, from 10 December to 26 February. 

The European Prize for Urban Public Space is the only one in Europe devoted exclusively to public urban spaces, and recognizes both the authors and the developers of the projects. It offers a singular vision of the challenges facing cities today, such as climate emergency, the transformation of mobility and social inequalities, key elements that directly impact the design of public spaces. These spaces are not only essential for the quality of urban life, they also play a key role in cities’ democratic health.

In the course of its 25-year existence, the Prize has become consolidated as an observatory of good practices, with an online archive offering a platform for reflection on possible solutions to the challenges of the future. It is a contribution to the redefinition of public spaces as places for collective meeting and coexistence in European cities. 

Functioning and Timeline 

The Jury will assess the proposals that best respond to the emerging challenges of urban public space, taking into account their cultural, social and environmental impact, as well as the effect of urban transformation on their specific context. Entry is free of charge and has 2 phases. 

In the first, the Jury will select 25 projects that will be announced on 9 July 2026. The shortlisted projects will be included in the Prize’s digital archive and the catalogue published on the occasion of each edition, which also includes the reflections of the jury members (available online and in print). In the second phase, the Jury will select the five finalists, who will be announced on 9th September 2026. 

Finally, a public event is scheduled to be held at the CCCB during the month of October, when each finalist team will present its project to the Jury. After this session, the Jury will name the winning project, which will be announced at the awards ceremony at the CCCB.