Europan is an architecture competition that places a marked emphasis on the urban context. One of Europan's main objectives is to gather ideas that contribute to the debate about the European city and its design. In Europan 9 the focus shifts to the issue of the sustainable city and new public space.Enhancement of the city's sustainability is a broad and complex theme that cannot be limited to sustainable construction or to preserving as much of the existing urban fabric as possible. The task is more wide-ranging. A sustainable city is a city that provides space for dynamism in the broadest sense of the word, both now and in the future: socially, economically and spatially. The spatial design of public space plays an important role in this.
The Europan 9 - European Urbanity. The Sustainable City and New Public Spaces publication provides an overview of the winning plans for the four sites in the Netherlands: Amsterdam, Almere, Groningen and Nijmegen. These designs are documented comprehensively, and the winning designers elucidate their visions in an interview as well. Once again the book is accompanied by a CD-ROM that, alongside the design proposals of the prize-winners, includes the work of all participants.