After Dublin this year, and Mexico City in 2020, the City of Lisbon will host, in 2021, the Velo-city Conference Series. The contract of collaboration which marks the official selection of the City as host by the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF), was signed yesterday at the City Hall of Lisbon by officials of EMEL and ECF.

Miguel Gaspar, City Councilor of Mobility and Security, said that “it will be an opportunity to renew Lisbon’s commitment to cycling, transformation of public space and building of infrastructure that will make the city more cyclable”. By 2021, the cycle network is expected to double from the current 100km of cycle lanes, the Councilor said.

Marcio Deslandes, Velo-city Series Director at ECF, who visited Lisbon for the first time in 2015, returning in November 2018, was impressed by the city's sustainable development, highlighting a "huge evolution in just three years".

The Lisbon bid to host Velo-city was highlighted by strong local and national political commitment, but also by the involvement in the application of the national bicycle industry (Portugal is the third largest European producer) and Academia.

The success marks also international recognition of the work of the City of Lisbon in promoting active modes and collective transport, as well as an incentive to pursue the strategy defined in this field by 2021.

Currently, there are more than 90 kilometers of cycling network in Lisbon and the municipality plans to reach 200 kilometers of network by 2021. The Bike-share System Gira has surpassed one million trips in less than a year, and preparations are under way to expand the system to new areas of the city.