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Report of the Jury

The European Urban and Regional Planning Awards

To evaluate the entries, a panel of qualified judges representing the planning profession was nominated by ECTP. The jury took into account the following criteria:

• application of the principles of sustainable development, for the enhancement of the environment and any recognisable social and economic benefit resulting from the achievement in terms of human well-being, greater safety or greater efficiency
• the originality and innovation of the achievement or approach
• the quality of the professional work involved in design, in the development of planning concepts or in the application of planning techniques
• the extent to which the scheme may serve as a reference for other work elsewhere or as a base for the development of further related schemes
• the role played by the planner as enabler or co-ordinator and the demonstration of added value brought to the project through the involvement of planners.

The manner in which the jury worked and debated each entry reflected the different backgrounds and different cultures of the jury members, the jury was nonetheless able to speak a common language and find a way to identify the merits of projects, reaching consensus on those which should receive awards. The jury showed that planners could cope easily with differences and harmonize their opinions when what mattered was the profession. The jury worked very positively, and enjoyed their experience and time together.

The Jury is grateful to ECTP and particularly wishes to thank the Czech colleagues in the Czech Republic association for town and spatial planning (AUÚP ČR) for the excellent organisation of both judging sessions which made the Jury's work so easy and pleasant. Vít Řezáč in particular was always on hand, organised everything superbly and looked after the Jury very well. Thanks to him, the meetings in Prague were stimulating and productive.

The total number of projects in the national round was 186, made up as follows: Czech Republic - 5, France - 2, Germany - 99, Greece - 1, Hungary - 4, Ireland - 1, Italy - 2, Malta - 1, The Netherlands - 24, Slovenia - 6, Spain - 2, United Kingdom - 39

The selection process carried out at national level resulted in a short list of 26 entries from 12 countries delivered to the ECTP Jury. One third of the short-listed entries were from EU Accession countries.

Prof. Max van den Berg, Netherlands - Chairman of the Jury Advisor Spatial Planning; retired member of the board of directors of the Province of Noord-Holland, Netherlands; past president of the International Society of City and Regional Planners

Prof. Miroslav Baše, Czech Republic Architect, professor at the Czech Technical University, Faculty of Architecture, Department of Urban Planning and Design, Prague, Vice dean for Science & Research; lecturing in Regeneration of Historic Towns, Countryside Settlements, Landscape and Sub-Urbanisation

Mrs. Marta Doehler-Behzadi, Germany Co-director, Büro für urbane Projekte, Leipzig, Germany; former member of the board of the German Planning Association SRL

Mrs. Rachel Kenny, Republic of Ireland Senior Planner, Meath County Council; past president of the Irish Planning Institute.

Prof. Andrej Pogačnik, Slovenia Professor of urban planning, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, Head of Department, Head of Graduate Studies; planner and researcher.