• María José Catalá emphasizes that the campaign advocates for the right to use the city to innovate and envisions an urban model that puts people at the center

• The awards ceremony will take place on December 3 in Grenoble, France

• The winning city will receive one million euros, while the other two finalists will each receive 100,000 euros

Valencia has been selected as one of the three finalist cities for the European Capital of Innovation (iCapital Awards), organized by the European Commission. The city will compete for this recognition alongside Madrid and Montpellier.

The mayor of Valencia, María José Catalá, emphasized that this ranking represents “recognition of the work carried out over the years by the city and by the organizations that make up its innovation ecosystem—a bid that the city submitted under the slogan ‘Valencia says yes: yes to a new European vision of innovation; yes to the right to use the city to innovate.”

According to Catalá, “Valencia wants to take it a step further and help define a new European vision of innovation: the right to use the city to innovate. We want our streets, infrastructure, services, and public spaces to become opportunities for businesses, universities, entrepreneurs, and citizens to test their ideas, develop solutions, and improve people’s lives.”

The bid proposes a model for the city that combines urban experimentation, funding, public procurement of innovation, collaboration among stakeholders, and international visibility. This vision has been developed over more than 15 years of driving digital, green, and innovative transitions. According to the mayor, “this recognition also belongs to the more than 80 organizations that support our bid and to all the people working to make Valencia a more innovative, sustainable, and inclusive city. Innovation only makes sense if it translates into new opportunities and a better quality of life for citizens.”

A City Open to Innovation

One of the cornerstones of the bid is the València Urban Sandbox, which makes more than 150 urban resources available for experimentation and has received more than 70 projects. Its model allows solutions to be tested in real-world environments and is governed by a specific municipal ordinance.

Valencia also has tools in place to help innovative solutions grow and reach the market. These include public grants for innovation, the GovTech model, and public procurement of innovation. According to the bid’s data, 17 million euros in public investment have helped mobilize 61 million euros.

The city is also home to 1,689 startups and more than 20,000 skilled jobs, and it is working to connect talent, research, and business activity with urban challenges.

The bid places people at the center of innovation, with a special focus on digital inclusion, gender equality, universal accessibility, and sustainability.

The awards ceremony will take place on December 3 in Grenoble, France. The winning city will receive one million euros, while the other two finalists will each receive 100,000 euros.