2025 Australian Urban Design Awards Celebrate Outstanding Projects Shaping the Nation’s Urban Landscape

Since 1996, the Australian Urban Design Awards have showcased successful efforts in building and sustaining Australia’s urban communities.

The awards celebrate the very best of urban design contributions and successful and promising innovations that will improve the performance of our cities and the quality of life of our communities. The awards are intended to help forge a network of exceptional urban thinkers and activists in urban design and city building. The awards create an opportunity for nationwide sharing of what constitutes good urban design and provide insights into intelligent innovations in urban design occurring across the country.

The Australian Urban Design Awards are co-convened by the Planning Institute of Australia, the Australian Institute of Architects and the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects. The intent and scope of the Australian Urban Design Awards is wide-ranging and attracts entries for initiatives, built projects and publications that will make a significant difference to the places, spaces, buildings and infrastructure of our cities and towns.

The Australian Urban Design Awards represent a distinctive opportunity that unites the expertise of three prominent Institutes in the built environment, fostering a unique partnership for the program. The 2025 Awards program attracted just under one hundred entrants between four newly re-invigorated categories: Built Outcomes, Research & Advocacy, Strategic Design & Policy and Urban Design Champions which recognises individuals.

“Urban transformation is a hot topic across Australia, driven by our national housing crisis and associated planning reforms. As the Steering Committee for the Australian Urban Design Awards, we believe strategic urban design is crucial for not only delivering more homes, but also creating liveable neighbourhoods, while addressing climate and biodiversity crises.

This year, we’ve returned to the Awards’ foundational purpose: promoting the value of urban design to not just to professionals, but also decision-makers and the community. We’ve introduced four categories to celebrate diverse projects and people involved in urban transformation: built outcomes, strategic design and policy, research and advocacy, and urban design champions. Our juries now include journalists and politicians to broaden perspectives and share the value of urban design.

This year’s award winners, covering precinct transformation, guidelines for healthy high-density living for families, and transport policy, showcase the impactful role of strategic urban design in consciously improving the quality of our cities and regions.” said Katherine Sundermann, Chair of the Steering Committee for the Australian Urban Design Awards.

Thank you to the dedicated juries who committed their time and expertise to the process.