Fewer cars, more city

ONU-Habitat Nairobi-Dubai 2014 ▶ A transferable urban model that places people at the center. A total of 4,500 submissions were received from 195 different countries, out of which 406 were pre-selected in Nairobi. Dubai narrowed the choice to just 50 candidacies and chose 6 best practices to improve quality of life in global cities. Pontevedra was presented with one of the awards. Center for Active Design New York 2015 ▶ Connected to Bloomberg Philanthropies, this organization promotes architecture and urban planning solutions to foster more active lifestyles, fight sedentary habits and design open spaces to improve public health. Pontevedra was selected as a model of smart urban management. Intermodes Brussels 2013 ▶ In recognition of its model of pedestrian based intermodality, which advocates that walking is the most natural form of transportation. This European agency dedicated to the promotion of smart transport chose Pontevedra as an example to be followed within and beyond Spain. Ciudades que Caminan Torres Vedras 2016 ▶ This group of Spanish and Portuguese cities and provinces advocate walking as the most natural form of mobility. They considered Pontevedra deserved an award for its progress in this field. Fesvial Madrid 2010 ▶ This organization supervises road safety and comprises private insurance companies, academic institutions and government agencies. The city’s dramatic reduction of traffic accidents won the prize. Smart Mobility Hong-Kong 2015; Shenzhen 2016 ▶ Euro-China Smart Mobility City Award granted by the French association Prospective et Innovation to distinguish global smart mobility initiatives. Pontevedra has received two of these awards so far in the category of Urban Design / Urban Planning, focused on new city experiences, ecological neighborhoods and low emissions areas. Seguridad Vial Córdoba 2011 ▶ The 2nd Conference of Cities for Road Safety held in Córdoba (Spain) in 2011 under the auspices of the Spanish Directorate General of Traffic, the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces, as well as the Catalan and Basque government agencies in charge of traffic regulation presented Pontevedra with an award in recognition of its sustainable mobility model and the dramatic reduction in road violence. It was highlighted as the best practice in matters of road safety. Visits to the city are a common sight, especially by representatives of Galician and Portuguese local authorities, although Spanish and European partners are gradually becoming more and more involved. Technical sessions tend to be organized first and then field research is done to see how the system works first hand.