Winner city: Bremen
In the category of Public Participation, Bremen adopted a superbly integrated strategy to reach out to citizens and involve them in advancing public transport. It capitalised on novel media channels and diverse engagement tools, both in the virtual world and real world. Highlights included an online geo-referenced consultation platform where users could see approved posts, as well as a competition for employers to bike to work.
Gdynia came a close second in this category with an impressive mix of engagement techniques including on-street participatory audits, social media reports and citizen interactive exercises. Noteworthy among Gdynia's achievements are the bike-to-work competition and citizens' fund to further sustainable transport.
Winner's Presentation:
Winner city: Brighton and Hove
The category of City of the Year had only two candidates, Odense in Denmark and the UK's Brighton & Hove. The latter won the award for building on the support of CIVITAS such as the floating bus stop concept, e-vehicles strategy and personalised travel marketing. In the case of Odense, getting rid of the four-lane urban highway that runs through the city centre has been an important achievement which almost earned it first place .
CIVITAS Awards 2014: City of the Year 2014 - BRIGHTON & HOVE
Winner city: Malaga
Beating Tallinn in Estonia and Torres Vedras in Portugal for this award, Malaga hinged its success on the electric vehicle or e-vehicle project, complete with a range of services to users such as home charging, maintenance, incentives and online applications. Spain's sixth largest city valiantly and successfully brought together several international companies to achieve its vision and eliminate barriers to electric mobility. With its new integrated management parking system, it achieved much better use of public space and improved mobility of residents, encouraging the use of public bicycles.
