START YOUR NATIONAL PARK CITY JOURNEY

We’re delighted that you want to join the National Park City Family.

The journey to becoming a National Park City may take you many months or even years. But when you’re ready to submit your application you can do so here.

Whether you plan for your urban area to join the National Park City Family or for it to become an official National Park City, you have come to the right place.

We do charge a fee for the application process to cover our costs. This includes the desk and peer review and the peer visit, as well as administration costs. Travel expenses make up a big part of this, so the final fee will depend on where your city is.

If necessary, the National Park City Foundation will work with you to secure funding to cover costs.

By now you will have gone through the key steps outlined in the Journey Book.

Once you are ready, please complete the short registration form so that we can stay in contact.

Submit your portfolio application

Your portfolio application should be creative, public friendly and must demonstrate that your city is ready to become a member of the National Park City Family or an internationally recognised National Park City. It must demonstrate how you meet or are working towards each of the 23 criteria that are set out in the Journey Book.

We recommend that you communicate with us as you progress through your National Park City journey and the development of your application. Doing so will create space for us to feedback, collaborate and avoid going in the wrong direction or any surprises.

Once your portfolio application is ready please submit it here.

What happens next?

• Desk review – We’ll complete a desk review of your application to make sure we have everything we need. We’ll let you know if anything is missing or if we need more information.
• Peer review – Peers from established and emerging National Park Cities, as well as experts from the National Park City Foundation, World Urban Parks and Salzburg Global Seminar will review your application. If it’s approved, we’ll move you to the next step. If not, we might ask you for more evidence or activity.
• Peer visit – Peers from established and emerging National Park Cities will visit and explore your urban area. They will verify your evidence, collect their own, and make sure your potential National Park City shares the values, goals and spirit of the wider movement. Our aim is for peers to make a recommendation by the end of this visit.
• Invitation – If successful, your campaign will be formally invited to join the National Park City Family and, if appropriate, become a recognised National Park City.