The annual presentation of the Prince Claus Awards is by now a well-established phenomenon. This year, the Prince Claus Awards will be announced on December 12 at a festive ceremony to take place in the Royal Palace in Amsterdam.

Each year the Principal Award and the ceremony have a specific theme. The theme for 1999 was Creating Spaces of Freedom and for 1998 African Fashion, the latter featuring David Koloane from South Africa among the award finalists.

This year Urban Heroes are in the spotlight. The focus will be on people who have made a valuable contribution to the welfare of fast-growing cities in Africa, Asia, Latin-America and the Caribbean by taking resourceful initiatives. They develop large and small scale activities in the areas of art, architecture, town-planning and communication, and with these initiatives they realise the hopes and dreams of many for a better city life.

An elite of national and international guests have been invited, amongst whom are the Prince Claus Laureates of 1997-1999. During the ceremony, Ismail Serageldin (Egypt, 1944) will hold the annual speech with t he theme Urban Heroes. An architect, urban planner and former vice-president of the World Bank, Serageldin is an authoritative mind on the subject of culture and development.

The ceremony will be brought to a close after a multimedia event that will bring Amsterdam into contact with cities and urban heroes all over the world.