Vitoria-Gasteiz has been awarded the Global Green City Award 2019 by the Global Forum on Human Settlements, an organization sponsored by the UN, at its annual event held on September 6 in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia). For the deliberation of this award, the candidate cities are evaluated based on 85 indicators aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals, which include aspects such as the environment, sustainable territorial development, urban planning and housing policies, transport and mobility, energy efficiency, the circular economy, the management of waste, water and basic services, the agri-food strategy, innovation policies, or the protection of heritage.

Cities awarded with the Global Green City Award in previous years include Mannheim (Germany), Vienna (Austria), Cuenca (Ecuador), Oakland (USA), Heidelberg (Germany), or Vancouver (Canada) .

In the 2019 edition, in addition to Gasteiz, Johor Bahru (Malaysia) was awarded in the “Global Green Smart City” category, and Udaipur (India) and Eskişehir (Turkey) in the “Global Model of smart city”. In the field of tourism, the de-urbanization and recovery project of the Pletera marshland, in Catalonia, has been awarded.

The award for Vitoria adds to previous recognitions, notably, the European Green Capital of 2012.