Habitat III, the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development, is set to take place in Quito, Ecuador, from 17 – 20 October 2016. UN-Habitat is the United Nations programme working towards socially and environmentally sustainable human settlements development in the increasingly urbanized world. The aim of the Habitat III conference is to reinvigorate the global political commitment to sustainable urbanization and to focus on the implementation of a New Urban Agenda that builds on the previous Habitat Agenda of Istanbul from 1996. This new agenda seeks to find solutions for the complex challenge of urbanization and to promote a new model of urban development that is able to integrate all facets of sustainable development to promote equity, welfare and shared prosperity. ECF’s Project Officer for World Cycling Alliance (WCA) Marcio Deslandes represented ECF and WCA at the Habitat III Preparatory Committee that carries out the preparations for the conference. In his speech at the Preparatory Committee in Nairobi, Marcio Deslandes highlighted the important role that mobility plays in urban development. “Sustainable urban development cannot go without the topic 'active mobility'. For that I am here today to ask all the authorities to take serious consideration on adding the importance of cycling as the cleanest and most sustainable mean of transportation to the new urban agenda”, he addressed the audience. He emphasized how cycling can easily fit in many of the UN’s sustainable development goals; Cycling does not only have a positive impact on health but it creates jobs, contributes to a safer city environments with less traffic accidents and helps to reduce the CO2 –emissions, thus contributing positively to fighting climate change and poor air quality.

As a positive outcome of the Preparatory Committee, cycling is included in the Habitat III Issue Paper 19 on Transport and Mobility. These Issue Papers are summary documents that provide in depth reviews and analysis of specific issues relevant to the discussions of the conference. Issue Paper 19 states that a sustainable urban transport system builds on an efficient modal structure consisting of walking, cycling and public transport, thus paying considerable attention to active mobility in general and cycling in particular. This is an important achievement for cycling advocacy. ECF and the WCA continue to work with international stakeholders to promote cycling on global level .