UNESCO Creative Cities
The Street Design Challenge is a two-day competition for university students to share their vision on how public space design can improve quality of life in our communities.
This year, participants are tasked with reimagining real streets as safer, more playful and caring environments. Streets that work for young children and their caregivers tend to be safer, healthier and more inclusive for everyone.
Entries will be evaluated based on the criteria below.
Practicality
How the design blends innovation with local cultural narratives
Creativity + Accessibility
Reimagining public spaces using accessible technologies
Emotional Resonance
Use of materiality, form, and how it invites people to feel, linger, and return
Street life and feasibility
How could the design work in daily life and be implemented?
Child-centered Experience
How the design changes when seen from 90cm.
Storytelling & Communication
How clearly is the idea communicated?
ABOUT
How it Works
Each team will be paired with a street from another city and provided with an in-depth briefing from a local expert.
Once the challenge commences, teams will have 48 hours to submit their projects in the specified format.
Why Participate?
The Power of Design
We know what design can do. Design has the power to generate transcendental changes. In the Education Group of UNESCO Cities of Design, we are working to make this power visible. As creators of models, prototypes, and ideas, designers operate in the dynamic space between our current reality and the future we aspire to.
With the dedicated efforts of the organizing cities - 2026 Cities: Asahikawa, Detroit, Doha, Muharraq, Querétaro - the Cities of Design Subnetwork is committed to nurturing international cooperation and promoting interdisciplinary pathways. Our goal is to underscore the transformative potential of design and its ability to democratize urban spaces.
Global Collaboration
Collective Imagination
During the Challenge, interdisciplinary groups and their professors will collaborate to design concepts that empower citizens of a foreign city to create new experiences, services and urban landscapes for their environment.
