AIPH Green Cities Awards 2024
Revitalising cities and minds through nature
By Michael Casey
Honouring cities that lead the way in urban greening: The AIPH World Green Cities Awards celebrate innovation, biodiversity, and sustainable urban development.
The International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH) is a global organisation dedicated to promoting the horticulture industry and its role in improving environmental sustainability. Founded in 1948, AIPH brings together national horticultural organisations worldwide, providing a platform for sharing best practices, fostering collaboration, and advocating for policies that enhance the quality of life through plants and nature. AIPH’s work spans various areas, including promoting sustainable urban development, green infrastructure, horticulture’s economic value, and supporting plant growers. Most importantly, they continue to be the world’s champion of the power of plants.
One of AIPH’s flagship initiatives is the World Green Cities Awards, which recognise cities that demonstrate excellence in integrating nature and plants into urban environments. Starting in 2020, these awards aim to highlight innovative solutions that contribute to the health and well-being of urban populations, promote biodiversity, and combat climate change. By celebrating cities that embrace green spaces and sustainable design, the AIPH World Green Cities Awards serve as a powerful tool for encouraging urban greening and inspiring other cities to adopt similar strategies. The awards reflect AIPH’s commitment to advancing global goals related to sustainability, resilience, and improving the quality of urban life through horticultural solutions.
The 2024 awards came to a close, with the grand finale taking place in Utrecht, Netherlands, in partnership with the Future Green Cities Forum, where over 1,000 urban greening professionals gathered to explore the latest research and best practices for enhancing green spaces in our cities. The awards night, held in the evening during the forum, welcomed more than 400 participants, including most of the 21 finalists from around the world, creating a sense of anticipation as the category winners were announced. The evening, which was engaging and inspiring, celebrated the many unique ways cities are leading the charge in sustainable urban design and development.
The AIPH World Green City Awards recognises global excellence in urban greening projects that improve the quality of life, biodiversity, and sustainability in cities. Organised and run by AIPH, the awards showcase cities that harness the power of plants and nature to create healthier, more resilient urban environments. These awards operate through a competitive process where cities submit applications detailing their initiatives. These applications are evaluated by an international technical panel that selects finalists and winners based on innovation, impact, and alignment with the award’s overarching goal of promoting nature-based solutions to urban challenges. The awards focus on projects that integrate environmental, social, and economic benefits while fostering collaboration across various stakeholders, including local government, communities and businesses and organisations.
These awards are offered in seven categories, with three finalists and a category winner selected in each category and one overall Grand Winner selected from the seven category winners.
The winners on the evening were:
1. Living Green for Biodiversity and Urban Ecosystem Restoration – This category recognises initiatives prioritising biodiversity and restoring natural ecosystems within urban spaces. The 2024 winner was Chengdu, China, for its “Urban Green Heart Programme”.
2. Living Green for Climate Change – This category highlights projects aimed at mitigating or adapting to climate change. The 2024 award went to Mandera, Kenya, for its urban greening strategy that combats desertification.
3. Living Green for Health and Wellbeing – This category focuses on initiatives that enhance public health through access to green spaces. São Paulo, Brazil, won in 2024 for its “Green and Healthy Environments Program”.
4. Living Green for Water – Recognising water management solutions, the City of Joondalup, Australia, won for its climate change strategy.
5. Living Green for Social Cohesion and Inclusive Communities – This category celebrates projects fostering social inclusion through green spaces. The 2024 winner was Mexico City, Mexico, for its “ResiLab BioSocial” project.
6. Living Green for Urban Infrastructure and Liveability – Focusing on improving urban infrastructure, Baia Mare, Romania, was honoured for its Smart Post-Industrial Regenerative Ecosystem (SPIRE).
7. Living Green for Urban Agriculture & Food Systems: Curitiba’s Urban Agriculture – City of Curitiba, Brazil
The City of Chengdu, China, earned the top honour of the competition, being named the Grand Winner for its visionary “Urban Green Heart Programme.” This transformative project spans 1,275km² and aims to develop Longquan Mountain, which will become the future heart of Chengdu. The initiative is set to create the world’s largest urban forest park, establishing a global standard for green spaces. By prioritising ecological restoration and urban sustainability, Chengdu’s plan represents a groundbreaking model for integrating nature into urban living on an unprecedented scale
Each category showcases cities leading the way in using nature to improve urban life, supporting the AIPH’s mission of promoting greener, healthier cities globally. If you wish to read more about these inspiring projects, I encourage you to head to https://aiph.org/green-city/green-city-awards/
A heartfelt congratulations to all the cities from around the world that participated in the second World Green Cities Awards. Your dedication to greening urban spaces has not only transformed built environments but has also brought long lasting social benefits to your communities. These projects have created new jobs, reestablished natural environments, reduced crime, encouraged entrepreneurship, and established green spaces for families and communities to enjoy for years to come.
A special thanks goes out to the dedicated staff, executive team, technical panel, and jury members who worked tirelessly behind the scenes. Their commitment and passion made this event truly memorable, ensuring that the remarkable efforts of the participating cities were celebrated and that the winners received the recognition they deserved. Together, we’ve all contributed to a brighter, greener future.
Michael Casey,
Director of Evergreen Infrastructure,
Consultant and advisor to the green infrastructure industry
On Technical Panel for the AIPH World Green Cities Awards 2024
E: michael@evergreeninfrastructure.com.au
All images supplied by Michael Casey