Closing Plenary: Rethinking cities: cycling as the new normal

Something needs to change. If we are to truly tackle the climate crisis and achieve our ambitious emissions targets, we must reshape the cities that we live in. The Closing Plenary began with Carlos Moreno presenting his insights on implementing the “15-minute city” concept in Paris.

The 15-minute city will transform urban environments into ecological, cycle-friendly cities, fostering a common good amongst residents by moving away from the hecticness of car-dominated streets. “Until now we have accepted the unacceptable. We need to change the rhythm of the city,” said Moreno.

The following panel discussion expanded on his points, with each speaker calling for a global implementation of sustainable urban development, focusing specifically on how the bicycle is the most effective tool to achieve these goals. As asserted by Jeremy Yap, “if you weaponise bikes for the green city, you can be agents of change.”

The plenary concluded with the official handover to next year’s host city, Ljubljana. ECF CEO Jill Warren presented Deputy Mayor Janez Koželj with the Velo-city banner, asserting that “change is a key word associated with our next Velo-city in Ljubljana.”

Something needs to change. That something is an effective modal shift away from unsustainable mobility. That something is for more and better cycling for all to become the new normal.

Thursday's session highlights

The morning session on the Red stage saw speakers from Ankara, Rome, Valencia, Zürich and Germany present high-impact strategies for how their cities plan to boost cycling significantly in the coming years. Political will and a genuine wish to change are crucial, but good communications is even more important, the panellists agreed.

Over on the Green stage, ECF’s Fabian Küster took the crowd through the ins and outs of securing EU funds for cycling. Emphasising the huge opportunities currently available to dedicate money for cycling, speakers demonstrated fantastic examples from around the continent of what EU funding can achieve.

A recurrent challenge for urban planners and advocates is the scarcity of reliable cycling data. At an interesting session moderated by ECF’s Holger Haubold, panellists shared examples from both the private and public sector supporting the notion that open data that is readily available for everyone to use and republish is the future for effective cycling development. 

Air pollution, congestion, climate change, you name it. Cargo bikes to the rescue! At the second cycle logistics session of Velo-city 2021 Lisboa, the City Changer Cargo Bike project and the Brussels CAIRGO BIKE project took centre stage, exploring ways of enabling and accelerating the cargo bike revolution.

The Garden stage set a convivial setting for a discussion on how cycling must play a central role in the EU’s Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T). Calling for a holistic approach, speakers said cycling should be integrated into the TEN-T – ideally with the EuroVelo network acting as the backbone. While the current review process of TEN-T guidelines will be lengthy, the advocacy work can already begin next year.

The best of the rest

Elke Van den Brandt, Mobility Minister of Brussels, was surprised and honored when the Danish Cycling Embassy bestowed on her the Leadership Award for Cycling Promotion. The minister, who is a strong promoter of cycling, received the award in recognition of her leadership and policies to reduce speed limits, accidents and car traffic in the notoriously car-centric Belgian capital.

FURTHER READING AND DIGITAL ACCESS

• Velo-city 2021 Lisboa: Monday Daily Report – Cycle diversity and climate crisis take centre stage.
• Velo-city 2021 Lisboa: Tuesday Daily Report – The route towards sustainable tourism and cities of the future.
• Velo-city 2021 Lisboa: Wednesday Daily Report – Women in Cycling and a Bike Parade through Lisbon.
• Digital access: purchase digital tickets to get exclusive access to the full four days of content, including 50+ sessions and 250+ speakers in HD quality!