Paris just won the world's top green-city prize for weaving nature back into a dense capital

Paris has been named grand winner of the AIPH World Green City Awards 2026, chosen from 21 finalists at the association's congress in Bari, Italy. The award honours the city's 'Retrofitting Paris' effort: green roofs, new parks, ecological corridors and extensive tree planting, all written into its bioclimatic urban master plan and biodiversity strategy. In one of the world's most densely populated capitals, plants and green infrastructure are being threaded into buildings, streets and public spaces to cool neighbourhoods and reconnect nature across the city.

SDG 11 · Sustainable cities and communities — Mechanism: policy reform