This shot of a Bristol car park has won a photographic competition to capture urban beauty, run by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (Cabe). The mix of the "mundane and unnatural" makes it beautiful, says winner Christopher Hoare.

"I see it every day and in its simplicity it inspires me to use long lasting materials," says Jan Roth of this cast iron stair tread at Aldgate Station in London. The photo was a runner-up in the competition to "celebrate the ancient and new".

"This is the original route of the old Bradford Canal, 'reflecting' the history of the city, the architecture within and the old wharf," says runner-up Martyn Sutcliffe of his photo, one of 750 that were entered.

Barry Gaffney's shortlisted picture occurred as a result of light passing onto the pavement through a motif on a window at John Lewis in Leicester. "Urban beauty often occurs in brief instants where man-made and natural elements come together," he says.

"I loved the way the grass was growing through holes and made such a beautiful pattern, like lots of little baked treats," says Nicki Fitz-Gerald of her shortlisted photo taken at an outdoor play area in Wyke Regis, Dorset.

Tim Cornbill's shortlisted shot is of a canal in Birmingham. "Beauty is the old and new standing together as one, unified by the canal system that worked to build the city of Birmingham," he says.

"There's something irresistible for me about the combination of man-made urban signage and the effortless, anarchic natural beauty of cherry blossom," says Matt Taylor, whose photo was shortlisted.

"There are no people at Clarence Dock in Leeds they say, nobody wants to go there. This image on a snowy February morning shows just how many people actually do live here," says Andy Graham of his shortlisted shot.

A flash of colour against dull grey. Minali Liyanage's shortlisted photo is of "an urban artist's blank canvas within an urban concrete London".