Planning Excellence Award

2026 International Planning Excellence Award

Application Form

Application Package

Evaluation Criteria

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Welcome to the 2026 International Planning Excellence Award hosted by the American Planning Association (APA) International Division. As a division committed to promoting international planning, we recognize the importance of showcasing exemplary leadership, innovation, and inspiration in urban planning projects worldwide. This annual award program provides a platform to acknowledge outstanding planning initiatives that are making a positive impact on their communities and to share their success stories with practitioners, educators, students, and communities globally.

Award Categories

The 2026 Award features seven categories:

• Community Planning Award
• Transportation Planning Award
• Urban Design Award
• Environmental Sustainability & Resilience Award
• Recovery, Reconstruction, and Community Resilience Award (NEW!)
• Visionary & Conceptual Award (NEW!)
• Student Planning Award

The Award also has 2 special awards to recognize the excellence of a project in a particular aspect of planning:

• Excellence in Public Involvement Award 
• Excellence in Advancing Social Equity Award

Eligibility

A nomination must meet all requirements as below:

• A nominated project must be a planning initiative that has been presented, adopted or implemented in a community (except visionary and conceptual award). It may involve the development of policies, programs, plans, or physical interventions that aim to address urban challenges, improve the quality of life, and create sustainable and equitable communities. (except unbuilt project category)
• The projects must have been finished after January 1, 2023.
• If the documentation of the project is written in non-English language, it needs to be translated into English. (It’s OK to use machine translation)
• There is no restriction on the location of the project.
• There is no application fee or any type of fee associated with the awards.

A nominator requirement:

• Nominators can be individuals from firms, agencies, or institutes.
• Nominators can choose only one award category for each nomination.
• Nominators can submit multiple projects.
• Members of the Awards Jury, APA International Division Executive Board, APA staff, APA Board of Directors, and AICP Commission are not eligible to make nominations.

Category Description

Community Planning Award

This award recognizes exemplary plans focused on neighborhoods or small areas. Eligible submissions may include, but are not limited to, community plans, neighborhood plans, regional plans, and city master plans. Urban renewal, infill, or redevelopment plans that emphasize planning policies and conceptual design at the planning level should be submitted under this category. Plans that focus more on architectural elements, public space design, or landscape features should instead be submitted under the Urban Design category.

Transportation Planning Award

This award honors exemplary transportation planning. Examples of projects eligible for this subcategory may include but are not limited to long-range transportation plans, public transportation plans, pedestrian/bicycle transportation plans, and corridor transportation planning.

Urban Design Award

This award honors exemplary efforts in urban design. Eligible projects may include, but are not limited to, master plan, detailed urban design, streetscape design, public space design, and other planning designs. Urban renewal, infill, or redevelopment plans that place greater emphasis on architectural design, public space design, and/or landscape architecture should be submitted under this category.

Environmental Sustainability & Resilience Award

This award honors exemplary planning efforts that protect and enhance the natural environment while building sustainable, healthy, and resilient communities. Eligible projects may include, but are not limited to, green infrastructure, resource conservation, ecological restoration, sustainable development, alternative energy, climate action and adaptation, disaster risk reduction, nature-based solutions, and resilient infrastructure. Projects may address environmental challenges at the local, regional, or broader community scale.

Recovery, Reconstruction & Community Resilience Award (NEW!)

This award honors exemplary planning efforts that help communities recover, rebuild, and become more resilient following major disruption or crisis. Eligible projects may include, but are not limited to, post-war and post-conflict reconstruction, post-disaster recovery, rebuilding of infrastructure and communities, displacement and resettlement, and social and economic recovery. Projects may address the physical, social, economic, cultural, and environmental dimensions of recovery and may support both immediate response and long-term community rebuilding.

Visionary & Conceptual Award (NEW!)

This award honors visionary and conceptual projects that explore innovative ideas, alternative approaches, or new possibilities for the future of communities and the built environment. Eligible submissions may include speculative, conceptual, research-based, competition, or other forward-looking proposals that may not be intended or ready for implementation. Projects should demonstrate a strong and compelling vision with the potential to challenge conventional approaches and inspire new thinking in planning, urban design, transportation, or environmental planning.

Student Planning Award (NEW!)

This award honors student projects that demonstrate a strong understanding of urban planning principles, address social and environmental considerations, showcase creative design solutions with clear visuals, including site analysis, design concepts, and/or implementation strategies.

Special Awards (no additional submission required)

The special award recognizes outstanding performance on a particular aspect of planning. All nominations are considered for the special awards.

Excellence in Public Involvement Award

This special award honors outstanding performance in engaging stakeholders and the general public. Key factors include but are not limited to, the involvement process, inclusiveness, technology, and the impact of public input on final decisions.

Excellence in Advancing Social Equity Award

This special award honors outstanding performance in promoting social equity by empowering and improving the living conditions of disenfranchised, less privileged, or oppressed groups in the target region. The award also recognizes the fair, just, and equitable distribution of project benefits and/or public service.

Submission Information

Submission Deadline

November 15, 2026 (23:59 EST)

Notification

Decisions will be sent to the Submission Coordinator via email no later than January 31, 2027.

Required Documents

1. Nomination form.

All nominators must complete the online application form (link).

1. Project Summary

• 500 words max for all category except the Student Planning Award
• 200 words for max for the Student Planning Award
• 200 words max for technology and/or AI use in the project (optional for all categories)

1. Award Criteria

• 200 words max under each category criteria
• No criteria description required for the Student Planning Award

1. Digital Images that are copyright-free with captions

Submit only images that are copyright-free and may be reproduced by APA without a fee, charge, or copyright infringement.

• Images should provide context and show the award nomination's positive or intended outcomes.
• Each image must be uploaded individually.
• Images must be in .jpeg format.
• Each image file size is no more than 10 MB.
• Each image should be minimum 150 dpi with 4 x 6 inch (landscape)
• Each image must include a photo caption. Captions must be between up to 25 words per image.
• Photo collages and PowerPoint presentations are not accepted.
• Five (5) digital images are required, and may submit up to 10 images.

1. Supplemental materials (optional)

Supplemental materials such as press clips, videos, brochures, posters, design guidelines may be included as a part of your submission to support your nomination. The file format must be either PDF, JPG, Doc, or PNG (max 10MB per file) or URL link.

There is two options to upload as below:

1. Upload the document to your nomination form
2. Provide links to your online document

Judging

Judging is performed by a juror panel. Jurors are under no obligation to grant an award in any category. Jurors have the right to move an award nomination into a different category. The Division will establish an advisory council for the 2026 award. The council will advise and review the selection of winning submissions.

Award jury

Keiko Murayama, AICP, LEED AP BD+C, International Assoc. AIA (Chair)

Salvador Herrera, AICP

Gala Korniyenko, Ph.D

Mai Nguyen

Sandra Pinel, PhD, AICP

Krishna Shrivastava, AICP

Sky Tallman, AICP

Sean Tapia, AICP

Jing Zhang, AICP

Announcement

The recipients of the 2026 APA International Division International Planning Excellence Award will be announced on the Division’s website, E-News, and InterPlan. Awards will be presented during the International Division business meeting at the 2027 National Conference of the American Planning Association in Houston, TX. The Division will send press releases to the media contact identified on the nomination form.

Award recipients will:

• Receive a formal award certification issued by the APA International Division, digitally delivered to the recipients.
• Award announcement at NPC 26 International Division business meeting
• Poster exhibition at NPC 27 International Division Booth
• Be featured in the Interplan publication and promotional materials of the International Division.
• Be honored on the International Division web page.

The information about past winners is available here: 2025 Winners

Contact

Program Coordinator: Mai Nguyen at mai.ntk12@gmail.com