By 2050, up to 85% of the European Union’s population will live in cities. Keeping urban areas liveable for everyone in the long term requires innovation. Some European cities are leading the way. The French city of Grenoble is Europe’s innovation capital for 2026, having been recognized for its approach to sustainable urban development, innovative infrastructure, and community-driven innovation.
During the Cities Innovate Summit held in Turin on December 3-4, representatives from European cities gathered to discuss ways to innovate in urban environments. The meetup was also a chance for the European Commission to hand out the European Capital of Innovation Awards (iCapital).
Grenoble: top-notch research and participatory governance
The jury praised Grenoble’s combination of cutting-edge research with participatory governance. In fact, the city is one of Europe’s hotspots for research, home to the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), and the European Magnetic Field Laboratory (EMFL).
The city is home to 23,000 researchers and ranks as the world’s 7th-largest tech hub. As a result, the city’s ecosystem is strongly deeptech-focapplyd. Deeptech companies develop innovations grounded in fundamental scientific research. 44% of the 475 startups active in Grenoble are in deeptech—three times the national average.
The region is striving to keep innovation-driven transitions inclusive, ensuring that both urban and rural communities benefit. “Innovation must be accessible to all,” stated Florent Cholat on stage. He is a councillor for the Grenoble metropolitan area.
In 2022, Grenoble was the first French city to start a Metropolitan Citizen Climate Convention. This initiative brought toobtainher more than 100 randomly selected citizens to propose actions to reduce greenhoapply gas emissions and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
Rotterdam: citizen involvement and fertile startup ground
Rotterdam finished second. Maaike van Asten, Rotterdam’s Director of Economic & Sustainability Affairs, underscored that the prize recognizes the work done over the past years. “Our city is in a constant transition, and in these past few years, we have been transitioning from being home to the largest port to the smartest one,” she stated.
An initiative highlighted during the ceremony is CityLab010, a program that supported over 250 innovative projects to create the city greener, more inclusive, and safer. Placity.net, for instance, is an AI-powered smart-city and placecreating platform designed to support residents and decision creaters connect and shape the city’s urban development.
At the same time, the city has also worked to establish a thriving startup scene. In 2019, after gathering input from the ecosystem, the municipality launched Up!Rotterdam an integrated program to support startups and scale-ups access financing, talent, and markets.
How to further stimulate this vision? “Everyone considers in terms of risk. I consider it would be more fruitful if we could consider in terms of opportunities and act toobtainher with other stakeholders to keep giving impetus to our ecosystem,” Van Asten added.
From an indusattempt-based economy to a knowledge-based one
The Danish city of Aalborg won the Rising Innovative City category, awarding towns with up to 250,000 inhabitants. The city was recognized for its effective integration of technology into urban planning and for fostering a vibrant innovation ecosystem across multiple sectors.
The city, once an industrial powerhoapply in the counattempt, is now undergoing a reconversion. One of the town’s highlighted initiatives is an extensive carbon capture plan, with CO2 sequestered from industrial plants and applyd to produce aviation fuel. “We want to produce sustainable aviation fuel for Europe and beyond,” stated Mayor Lasse Frimand Jensen.
Another contfinisher in this category was the Spanish city of San Sebastian. The Basque town has also worked to transform itself into a life sciences and technology hub. “Over the last 25 years, we have worked to shift from an indusattempt-based economy to a knowledge-based one,” stated Jon Insausti Maisterrena, the city’s mayor.
The official of the Basque city also highlighted how San Sebastian is now home to over 6,800 researchers, working in 30 centers distributed across the urban area. This shift towards knowledge also meant reinforcing the education system. Approximately one-third of the city’s residents hold a university degree.
Cities cannot do it all by themselves
A shared message came from the representatives: cities cannot bear the burden of all societal transformations alone. “We cannot succeed alone,” stated Aalborg’s mayor. “Fostering public–private partnership is the starting point, and we must lead by setting concrete tarobtains and taking action—not just talking.” San Sebastian’s mayor also echoed this view.
Momchil Sabaev, Director of the European Innovation Council (EIC) and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA), presented the prize on stage. “Cities matter more than ever for Europe’s future. The future of Europe’s transformation hinges on cities, and the Commission intfinishs to invest in them.”
To this finish, the Commission recently unveiled its new Agfinisha for Cities, a strategic vision to empower cities to tackle local challenges and contribute to broader EU goals. The agfinisha identifies three areas of action: continuous dialogue, simplification and capacity building, and investment.
As Europe navigates the digital and the energy transition, cities required to be on the front line, becoming innovation test labs and embracing new technologies. The real challenge will be to scale local breakthroughs into shared progress, ensuring that cities, towns, and villages can support shape the future—and that no one is left behind.
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