Charlie Smith
ANDALUCIA’S urban planning awards have been doled out to highlight those towns that most improve citizens’ lives.
Estepona took the ‘complete performance’ prize, for its ‘Garden of the Costa del Sol’ project, that has seen 120 streets remodelled.
The town, which is famed for its foliage, has regenerated 17 kilometres of roads and 50,000 square metres of public space.
Old properties have been demolished to make way for new walkways, more trees have been planted and new green spaces created.
Sevilla was the other big winner of the evening, as the city was recognised for its transformation of two urban spaces.
The Andalucian capital has given a new lease of life to Plaza de los Martires del Pueblo and Calle Maestro Juan Marin de Vargas.
The areas were previously busy thoroughfares for cars and had become swamped by careless parking and congestion.
Now the sites are a haven for tourists and locals alike thanks to the addition of street furniture, trees, open space and shaded awnings.
Another prize went to the Architecture and Urban Planning service of Malaga, which was set up in 1975.
The body oversees town plans and amendments to the Urban Planning Law of Andalucia for the province’s 64 municipalities.
Some of the work the group has been praised for includes its creation, in 38 municipalities, of heritage catalogues that seek to preserve historic architecture.
