Madrid Rio Park takes top Harvard prize for best urban design

THE renowned Veronica Rudge Green Prize in Urban Design has been awarded to Madrid Rio Park by Harvard University on Monday November 9.

Rahul Mehotra, Professor of Urban Design and Planning at Harvard´s Graduate School of Design, who was jury chair said:

“The decision to award Madrid Río the Green Prize in Urban Design was motivated by the jury’s desire to highlight the potential for thoughtfully planned and carefully executed mobility infrastructures to transform a city and its region.”

The prestigious prize was given to Madrid Rio as it was judged to represent ‘the optimistic idea that design can be a transformative force.’

Madrid’s Río was opened in 2011 although it wasn´t completed entirely until this year. The park was designed to overhaul a neglected area by the Manzanares River.

The project created a lush green area with biking paths and sports areas, an ‘urban beach’ and also features dams and bridges of historical interest.

The prize money of €46,500 will be divided among the four main architect groups involved in the park in Madrid and Rotterdam.