The city of Bilbao in the Basque region of Spain was named European City of the Year 2018 at the Urbanism Awards. The London based Academy of Urbanism gives annual awards to areas which have excel in environmental soundness, social well being, financial success and governance. The Spanish city beat Ljubljana and Vienna to the award and it was collected by the Basque city’s Mayor Juan Marí Aburto.
The Academy of Urbanism’s chair, David Rudlin praised the city for re-inventing the industrial city of the 90s. This turnaround was due to intelligent investment in culture, key economic policies and strong leadership ideals.
“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.” said David Rudlin.
Other UK awards given by the Academy of Urbanism were given to Corby for The Great Town award, Byker in Newcastle for The Great Neighbourhood Award, Humber Street Fruit Market for The Great Street Award and the Brunswick Centre in London won The Great Place award.
See more info about the fantastic city of Bilbao here.