Eight entries were submitted for the GAA 2016, one of the most prestigious awards for publications relevant for the current planning debate and at the cutting edge of professional practice – three in the category ‘Best Article’ and five in the category ‘Best Book’. All  submissions were of high academic standard as well as relevance for the planning professionals, thus, making it a difficult choice for the jury members to rank them. However, the jury composed of Ana Maria Fernandez Maldonado, Malgorzata Hanzl, Aleksandra Stupar, Nicole Wirz Schneider and Ana Peric (chair) made a joint decision to announce three following entries as the winners:

p1470040GAA ‘Best Article’:
Tathagata CHATTERJI, Modes of Governance and Local Economic Development: An Integrated Framework for Comparative Analysis of Globalizing Cities of India
Jury Report: “The paper is written according to the highest academic standards. It deals with both planning theory and practice, in a structured manner. The analysis of the governance modes in India is profound, thus providing the possibilities for generalisation. The paper describes only one case study (India), but it is done under the framework of global trends and debates, which makes the paper highly relevant for broader/international audience.”

GAA ‘Best Book’:
Alfonso VEGARA GÓMEZ & Juan Luis de las RIVAS, Supercities. La Inteligencia del Territorio
Jury Report:“As a genuinely impressive publication, the book presents a variety of planning issues, models, instruments and methods in an interesting and comprehensive way. It is clearly structured, while its attractive design follows the content consistently. The book covers the ‘best-practice’ examples of a contemporary urban planning, thus, providing a solid base for the concluding elaboration on how the city of future (SuperCity) should rely on innovative planning approaches. In order to be available for broader audience, the book deserves to be translated in English.”

GAA ‘Special mention’:
Jan VOGELIJ, Effective Strategy Making, co-designing scenarios as a tool for effective strategic planning 
Jury Report:“The book (i.e. the PhD dissertation) is written according to the highest academic standards – with clear research question, proper methodology and consistent research results. The elucidation of the topic of strategy-making is well underpinned by the relevant recent literature in the field, while the empirical part shows the comparative analysis of various methods used in different European countries (as case studies) in a profound manner. Although the focus of the book is targeted to European audience, its comprehensiveness will certainly attract the attention of both the academics and professional planners worldwide.”

Congratulations to the winners and a big thank you to all authors who submitted a book or an article.