A tour of the top innovative cities

If you want to see how cities interpret innovation, don’t miss a visit to these award-winning cities

Innovation is not only produced, it is also lived and felt. It can be felt in the atmosphere of many European cities, and to encourage these cities in their constant search for innovation, the European Commission created the ‘European Capital of Innovation Awards‘ (iCapital) in 2012. With this award the European Union wants to reward cities that experiment, that accelerate the growth of highly innovative start-ups and SMEs, that foster synergies between the different actors in the innovation ecosystem, that have an innovative vision and that act as a model for other cities.

The ‘European Capital of Innovation Awards’ have two categories: the category that gives its name to the award, aimed at cities with more than 250,000 inhabitants, the winner of which will receive a prize of one million euros. And the category of emerging innovative European city, aimed at cities with less than 250,000 inhabitants, with a prize of 500,000 euros.

This year’s winner has not yet been announced, but as we are in summer and it is a good time to travel (in a real way or with your imagination) we are going to review the winning cities in previous editions, in case you want to make a note of them as a suggestion to visit them and breathe their innovative atmosphere first hand.

Innovative Cities

Barcelona

It was the winner of the first edition of the awards in 2014 for developing technology that fosters economic growth and the well-being of its citizens: the use of open data, smart lighting, sustainable mobility and residual energy initiatives, the promotion of innovative alliances between different social agents.

Amsterdam

Winner of the 2016 edition, which recognised the work of its Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions. This centre brought a new approach to joint work between all social agents to identify urban challenges and propose solutions. The jury also highlighted the work of the Chief Technology Office, created to be an experimental centre for the city’s avant-garde.

Paris

The 2017 edition named Paris as the most innovative city for several reasons: it is home to the world’s largest startup campus, Station F. In addition, the city allocates 5% of its budget to projects proposed and implemented by its citizens, and has a powerful network of projects that also benefit its periphery called the Arc de l’Innovation.

Athens

In 2018, Athens was awarded for having turned to innovation to overcome its economic and social crisis. With its POLIS² project, it revitalised the city’s abandoned buildings, renovated its market to host cultural events, provided digital skills to its refugees or boosted the city’s digital strategy through the Digital Council project.

Nantes

Awarded in 2019, it wanted to recognise its open governance and dialogue with all social actors to integrate their requests into public policies. It involved more than 50,000 citizens in ‘Grands Débats’ to debate issues such as the energy transition, after which it drew up a roadmap with 33 ambitious commitments. Among the many initiatives he launched, he also highlighted the ‘Nantes French Tech Capital’ programme to promote start-ups.

Leuven

The last innovative city to receive an award was Leuven in 2020. Through urban networks such as Leuven 2030 and Leuven MindGate, the Belgian city pioneered quadruple helix collaboration (government, knowledge institutions, businesses and citizens) that integrates innovation into the urban process. As part of this, the municipality created a roadmap for a carbon neutral Leuven, with 13 programmes with concrete actions and milestones.

In addition, during the Covid-19 pandemic it created the pioneering ‘Leuven Helps’ initiative, connecting residents in need with thousands of volunteers willing to help. It was the first city to create such a platform and many others replicated it.