Wonderwoods Vertical Forest wins the New Sustainable Cities and Human Settlements Awards (New SCAHSA) 2025.
The award is established by the Global Forum on Human Settlements (GFHS). Supported by United Nations agencies and other international organisations, the programme aims to accelerate the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, in particular SDG 11, which focuses on sustainable cities and communities.
The jury members also include Carlos Moreno, urban planner and creator of the 15 Minutes City, an urban planning concept in which most services and daily needs are easily accessible within 15 minutes on foot, by bicycle or by public transport from anywhere in the city; and Vicente Guallart, an architect with whom we collaborated on Biocities, dedicated to urban planning with nature-based solutions and aligned with UN SDG 11, Sustainable Cities and Communities.
Winner in the Building & Community: Global Model of Smart Green Building/Community category of the New Sustainable Cities and Human Settlements Awards, Wonderwoods Vertical Forest by Stefano Boeri Architetti is a 104-metre tower that reinterprets the vertical forest model, characterised by a strong presence of trees and plants, in a mixed-use key: it is, in fact, the first vertical forest in the world characterised by the presence of public functions open to citizens, with the aim of making this innovative architectural typology increasingly integrated into the urban fabric and accessible to all.
With 360 trees and 50,000 plants of 30 native species, equivalent to the vegetation of one hectare of forest, Wonderwoods Vertical Forest is home to a high level of plant biodiversity and contributes significantly to improving the quality of life in the city, absorbing carbon dioxide and fine particles, producing oxygen and regulating the local microclimate.
For more information: https://gfhsforum.org/award