Words: Alton Twine

When you think of the world’s best cities for cycling, you probably think of Amsterdam, Copenhagen and, these days, Paris. However outside of the glamour of these world-renown bastions of cycling, there is a new wave of lesser-known cities embracing cycling and changing urban culture for the better. One of these cities is Ghent in Belgium. 

The annual world cycling summit, Velo-city 2024, took place  between 18-21 June 2024, in Ghent, a beautiful city that has grown up in the shadow of its more famous sister Bruges. As described  on the European Cycling Federation website, Velo-city is where advocates, cities, policy makers, researchers and industry leaders meet to discuss success and experiences around cycling and sustainable urban development across a global stage. 

Velo-city began in 1980 in Bremen. Since then, conferences have been held in cities all over the world, including Adelaide in 2014. This year’s event brought together community representatives, business, government, research and education partners under the theme “Connecting Through Cycling.” 

The event included a lineup of speakers from the world’s top cycling experts, government officials, advocates, retailers and community representatives, accompanied by a technical Expo featuring innovative cycling-related technology, exhibits and programs. 

A feature of this year’s conference was the keynote address from former Transport Commissioner for New York, Janette Sadik-Khan. Janette literally transformed significant areas of New York during the administration of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, clearly illustrating to conference delegates what can be achieved through good planning persistence and strong leadership. 

With over 80 separate conference presentations across multiple themes, Velo-city had a lot to offer delegates no matter what their interest in cycling, however the overarching theme was: here are things we have introduced to our communities and this is what has worked and what hasn’t – and here is the data and what success actually looks like. 

Important messages for Queensland from Velo-City

There are many, many things to bring back to Queensland, not the least of which is that persistence pays off. Partnerships are vital to success, particularly where cycling advocacy and urban planning and design is concerned.  

A contingent of urban planners from Paris told the compelling story of the transformation  of Paris streets from car domination to a city where cycling is now at 11% compared to car journeys at 4%.  Supporting the view of Janette Sadik-Khan, great infrastructure, programs such as bike hire schemes and policies that favour active transport modes have created this cycling revolution in a timely manner for this year’s Olympic Games. 

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Ghent itself is an example of what can be achieved. Progressive policies by the city over the last 20 years to restrict car access and invest in high quality cycling infrastructure throughout the City has seen cycling mode share increase to 30%. As in many European cities “cycle streets” are common in residential areas, where priority is clearly given to cyclists over cars, as denoted by large symbols on the pavement. Urban speed limits are typically 30 km/h in these areas also. 

A community ride and discussion with Ghent town planners reveals that it wasn’t always this way, with the historic town centre dominated by car parks and traffic congestion only a few years ago. Today bike paths, an expanding light rail system and large public squares and buildings abound, supporting a better lifestyle for residents and allowing the city to be experienced at a more human pace. 

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