Five outstanding developments — including the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco — have been selected as winners of the 2009 Urban Land Institute’s Global Awards for Excellence competition, widely recognized as the land use industry’s most prestigious recognition program. The award winners, representing the world’s best cross-regional models in land use practices, were announced last week in conjunction with the ULI fall meeting in San Francisco.
The competition is part of the Institute’s Awards for Excellence program, established in 1979, which is based on ULI’s guiding principle that the achievement of excellence in land use practice should be recognized and rewarded. ULI’s Awards for Excellence recognize the full development process of a project, not just its architecture or design. The criteria for the awards include leadership, contribution to the community, innovations, public/private partnership, environmental protection and enhancement, response to societal needs, and financial success.