A transcendent model

The prizes and awards Pontevedra has been presented with so far place it as a world leader in terms of contemporary urban planning.

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UN-Habitat

Nairobi-Dubai (2014)


A transferable urban model that places people at the center. A total of 4,500 submissions were received from 195 different countries, out of which 406 were pre-selected in Nairobi. Dubai narrowed the choice to just 50 candidacies and chose 6 best practices to improve quality of life in global cities. Pontevedra was presented with one of the awards.

Center for Active Design

New York (2015)

Connected to Bloomberg Philanthropies, this organization promotes architecture and urban planning solutions to foster more active lifestyles, fight sedentary habits and design open spaces to improve public health. Pontevedra was selected as a model of smart urban management.

Intermodes

Brussels (2013)

In recognition of its model of pedestrian based intermodality, which advocates that walking is the most natural form of transportation. This European agency dedicated to the promotion of smart transport chose Pontevedra as an example to be followed within and beyond Spain.

Ciudades que Caminan

Torres Vedras (2015)

This group of Spanish and Portuguese cities and provinces advocate walking as the most natural form of mobility. They considered that Pontevedra deserved an award for its progress in this field.

Ciudad de Piedra

O Porriño (2006)

The first award the city received from the Galician Association of Granite Stonemasons, in recognition of its skillful use of this rock in the restoration and revitalization of public spaces.

Cermi

Madrid (2007)

The Spanish Committee of Representatives of Persons with Disabilities, which brings together all the agencies whose aim is to improve universal accessibility statewide, gave Pontevedra a prize and officially endorsed the local government’s efforts to redress the mobility imbalances through smart town planning.

Pontevedra was represented in the 2015 Paris Climate Summit with mayors from all over the world, who expressed their commitment to reducing the emission of harmful gases.

Smart Mobility

Hong-Kong (2015) and Shenzhen (2016)

Euro-China Smart Mobility City Award granted by the French association Prospective et Innovation to distinguish global smart mobility initiatives. Pontevedra has received two of these awards so far in the category of Urban Design / Urban Planning, focused on new city experiences, ecological neighborhoods and low emissions areas.

Seguridad Vial

Córdoba (2011)

The 2nd Conference of Cities for Road Safety held in Córdoba (Spain) in 2011 under the auspices of the Spanish Directorate General for Traffic, the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces, as well as the Catalan and Basque government agencies in charge of traffic regulation presented Pontevedra with an award in recognition of its sustainable mobility model and its dramatic reduction in road violence. It was highlighted as the best practice in matters of road safety.

Nacional de la Cultura Gallega

Santiago de Compostela (2008)

Instituted by the Galician autonomous government, Pontevedra was awarded the first prize for its masterful preservation of historical and architectural heritage in the city center, implementing an innovative model to build an active city for the future.

Fesvial

Madrid (2010)

This organization supervises road safety and comprises private insurance companies, academic institutions and government agencies. The city’s dramatic reduction of traffic accidents won the prize.

Disseminating the experience

Over the last few years, after the Pontevedra model gained popularity worldwide, invitations to participate in conferences, seminars, workshops and congresses have increased exponentially, particularly in the areas of urban design, town planning, traffic management, road safety, universal accessibility, child mobility and heritage preservation, both at the national and international level.
Pontevedra has taken part in numerous events to disseminate the experience. Here is a synthetic list of the most remarkable:

  • Lisbon. Portugal. 1st Conference of Cities for Road Safety
  • Gijón. Spain. 1st Conference of Cities for Road Safety
  • Aveiro. Portugal. City and Sustainability Congress
  • Córdoba. Spain. 2nd Conference of Cities for Road Safety
  • Munich. Germany. Walk21, one of the most important international forums of alternative mobility. Pontevedra signed the Walk21 International Charter for Walking
  • Rome. Italy. Conference of Cities and Childhood. Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie della Cognizione
  • Seville. Spain. 1st Conference of Cities that Walk
  • Madrid. Spain. DGT Conference on Road Safety and Intelligent Cities
  • Florence. Italy. ECONN. European technical conference on mobility matters
  • New York. United States of America. FitCity10. NY Academy of Medicine
  • Torrevieja. Spain. 3rd Conference of Cities for Road Safety
  • Hong-Kong. China. Euro-China Association Smart City Mobility Seminar
  • Almada. Portugal. International Congress of Educating Cities
  • Torres Vedras. Portugal. Meeting of the Network of Educating Cities
  • Shenzhen. China. Euro-China Association Smart City Mobility Seminar
  • Beijing. China. CFLD Technical Meeting

Cities like Jaca, Barcelona, A Coruña, San Sebastián, Bilbao, Segovia, Málaga, Valencia or Valladolid in Spain, as well as Porto, Loulé and Guimarães in Portugal, among many others, have taken an interest in the Pontevedra model as a case study to be applied completely or just partly to their local contexts.

Many representatives from other cities have come to visit Pontevedra to learn more about the experience in person, particularly from Portugal, such as Braga, Guimarães and Torres Vedras. Delegations have also come from places as different as Santiago de Compostela, Ferrol, Carballo, Lugo, Puerto del Rosario, the Intermodes association, the Spanish Directorate General for Traffic (DGT) and the Child Mobility Group of the National Environmental Education Center in Valsaín (Segovia).

Grupo Pons Madrid, one of the main publishing houses on the topics of road safety and mobility, started a new collection entitled Movilidad Responsable (Responsible Mobility) with a monograph dedicated to the Pontevedra model, which was later followed by two more reports on cycling mobility and cities to visit on foot.

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