This year’s edition of our takes place in the impressive New Town Hall of Leipzig Network Day Cities & Regions for Cyclists (CRC). was organized by the ECF together with the City of Leipzig – CRC member and host of Velo-city 2023 – and kindly sponsored by Arup.
ECF President Henk Swarttouw opened the day by welcoming all participating members and thanked the City of Leipzig for their generous hospitality and Arup for their continued support of the ECF and its activities. dr Heiderose Heßke, deputy head of the international department of the city of Leipzig also warmly welcomed and explained that Leipzig is one of the fastest growing cities in Germany and that cycling plays and will play a role in the ongoing transformation in the coming years.
Arup was represented by Maral Mitilyan, Director at Arup & Cities and Transport Business Leader from Arup’s Istanbul office, and Tiago Oliveira, Associate Director & Transport Planning Leader from Arup’s Dublin office. They presented the challenges cities are facing, particularly in relation to climate change, and how active travel can help cities and regions to meet their emissions targets. Arup is a global collective of designers, consultants and experts dedicated to sustainable development. Arup’s active travel teams work with customers and partners to create walking and cycling solutions that bring lasting benefits to cities and communities.
ECF CEO Jill Warren also updated CRC members on recent ECF advocacy highlights, particularly in relation to progress towards one EU cycling strategyresulting from the three recent major EU initiatives on cycling, viz
- European Bicycle Declaration led by Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Mobility Georges Gilkinet – proposed in June 2022 and signed by 15 EU Member States so far,
- European Parliament resolution on “Developing an EU cycling strategy” – started in June 2022 and was chaired by French MEP Karima Delli (Greens/EFA Group) and adopted in February 2023, and
- An EU statement on cycling – first announced in June 2022 and most recently in March 2023 by European Commission Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans, to be published in summer 2023.
Finally, network members presented their own recent bike developments in an exchange session to close the morning agenda. Bart Christiaens, Bicycle Coordinator at the City of Rotterdam presented how the city is evolving through pilot projects for bike parking, new infrastructure and alliances into a city where cycling and walking are only logical. Emma Kangas, Project Manager at the City of Helsingborg presented the city’s vision to become the best city for children to cycle, as well as campaigns and incentives to encourage the public to cycle to work. Katerina Nikolopoulou, Member Manager CIVINET Greece-Cyprus about the successes of the first five years of network operation and in particular about the Sustainable Island Mobility Plans (SIMPs) for which they developed a practitioner briefing. Raffaele Sforza, project manager for cycle mobility in the Apulia region informed about the ongoing MIMOSA project in which the region is involved, including the latest updates on the cycle-friendly measures at Bari Airport. Finally, Henrik Lundorff, Special Adviser to the City of Copenhagen Mobility Department on the recently adopted new target for 20% more cycling by 2030.
The CRC Network Day ended with a technical tour of the city of Leipzig, presenting new and established cycling infrastructure as well as some of Leipzig’s most popular inner-city recreation areas.
Cities & Regions for Cyclists is a network bringing together local and regional administrations, actively working to promote the bicycle as a mode of transport and leisure. For more information on how to join, visit our Cities & Regions for Cyclists page.
