Global Designing Cities Initiative

📢 Today, along with EASST, we're proud to launch the Ukrainian translations 🇺🇦 of the Global Street Design Guide and the Designing Streets for Kids guide, made possible with the support of EBRD. To learn more, join a webinar later today at 15.00 EET (GMT+3) hosted by EASST. Languages: 🇺🇦 🇬🇧 Registration link: https://lnkd.in/exNA7hvd You can also download the guides at: https://lnkd.in/d2vf7Wri https://lnkd.in/d9NGbQNM Impact Ukraine FIA Foundation Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety International Road Federation (IRF) #safestreets #roadsafety #ukraine

🚲 🚲 🚲 At #VC24 last week, the GDCI team and Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Cycling Infrastructure (BICI) city partners had the chance to share their experiences plus learn from experts, advocates, government leaders, and practitioners in the global cycling community. At the "Cycling Across Borders" panel session moderated by GDCI, Emanuel Barbito, architect and urban planner from the Municipality of Quelimane, spoke about the city's unique cycling culture. Cycling accounts for around 30% of mobility mode share, and like many African towns and urban areas, the bicycle taxi is a common form of transport for those that may not cycle themselves. Cycling also supports the local economy as seen by the prevalence of bicycle repair and retail shops. To encourage more people to cycle, a 7.5 km cycle track is being built as part of BICI to provide more safe, accessible, and comfortable spaces. The city and Quelimane’s Mayor Manuel de Araujo, were also recognized for leading the city’s transition to sustainable mobility by winning the Best Active Mobility Award at Velo-city. Isabela Ribeiro de Castra, urban mobility coordinator, Municipality of Fortaleza, also shared how Fortaleza has built more than 400 kms of cycle network in the past decade, and is ambitious to create another 180 kms under BICI. Its extensive bicycle share system means that 60% of its 2.4 million inhabitants live within 500 meters of a bicycle share station, making the service highly accessible. Two key components of success include how the city collects data, and listens to residents through a variety of community engagement activities, using this information to directly feed back into design. And at GDCI's interactive workshop, participants were able to redesign a fictional neighborhood to make it safer, more convenient, and accessible for a variety of uses such as for walking, cycling, and public transit use. One person said: “It’s great to participate in a hands-on workshop with people from different countries and backgrounds to develop a street design applying global best practices." #BICI #cycling #activemobility

📣 GDCI is requesting proposals for a PR or media agency to promote the initiative and increase the profile and the number of earned international media mentions of Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative of Cycling Infrastructure (BICI), a competitive grant program that fosters catalytic change in city cycling infrastructure around the world. 🚲 📅 RFP deadline: July 20 Learn more and submit a proposal ⤵

Earlier this month, GDCI organized a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) exchange in Quito, Ecuador as part of the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS), hosting it with BIGRS embedded staff. The P2P event fostered collaboration between Quito and Guayaquil decision-makers, allowing them to gain insights into both the challenges and successes of various street design projects, including site visits to La Magdalena, San Bartolo, 5 de Junio, and the city's cycling Infrastructure network. The visiting team included Manuel Salvatierra (Guayaquil Department of Transport and Mobility), Fernanda Carrasco (Mobility and Public Works), and Luis Alfonso Saltos (Quito's Department of Urban Planning, Mobility, Cadastral, and Buildings - DUMCE). They also met with staff from Quito's Mobility Secretary and Mobility and Public Works of Quito(EPMMOP) to share common experiences and lessons learned. 🚦 📈 📝 In early June, the GDCI team also held a Data Collection Training workshop for practitioners and staff from the transport, public works, and urban planning sectors working in Guayaquil local government departments. The training combined both theoretical and practical components, and participants applied what they learned from the first day of presentations by collecting data at a future project site at Rodolfo Baquerizo Názur Corridor, Guayaquil. Measuring change before and after implementation is key to understanding the impact of our interventions, and helps to plan for further improvements as needed. Many thanks to all for sharing their knowledge at the P2P exchange, and we hope the data collection workshop participants can use some of the tools and practices in their daily work. Municipio de Guayaquil Municipio de Quito #roadsafety #safespeeds #safestreets

It's the #InternationalDayofPlay! Do you like to play? At GDCI, we consider play imperative for kids. Play improves the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of children and young people. It's also one of the main ways in which children learn and develop in their early stages of life ... [and] should be incorporated into streets wherever possible. We also believe that play and learning opportunities can be conceived of in new street designs, in large-scale street transformations, or as part of smaller-scale upgrade projects. See this in practice at the recent Play Street event at the Start with Children Summit in Bratislava! To learn how your city can champion more public spaces for kids to play, download the Designing Streets for Kids guide in multiple languages here: https://lnkd.in/dh4R4m5 FIA Foundation Fondation Botnar Van Leer Foundation #streetsforkids #safestreets #play

Next week, GDCI will be at Velo-city #VC24 in Ghent, Belgium! 🚲 Along with some of our Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Cycling Infrastructure (BICI) city partners, we'll be leading a hands-on workshop and moderating in a panel discussion: Workshop: Designing Streets for Cycling Tuesday, 18 June, 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. CET Green Room, Citadelpark, Ghent, Belgium Session: Cycling Across Borders: Implementing the Right Infrastructure in Different Global Contexts Wednesday, 19 June, 10:45 - 11:45 a.m. CET Green Room, Citadelpark, Ghent, Belgium Plus, GDCI Chair Janette Sadik-Khan will be presenting a keynote speech at the opening plenary! Learn more: https://lnkd.in/ebmQB82y We hope to see you there! #cycling #activemobility #cyclinginfrastructure

🚲 🌏 It's #WorldBicycleDay! As part of our Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Cycling Infrastructure (BICI), 10 cities in Africa, the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe are creating world-class and innovative cycling infrastructure that is safe, accessible, affordable, and comfortable, to encourage people from all backgrounds to take up cycling. We hope to inspire other cities to do the same and are sharing some useful resources to help city leaders and practitioners understand how to design and strategically invest in cycling infrastructure for all ages and abilities as part of a holistic approach to creating streets for all users. 👀 Have a look at: 📘 Our own Global Street Design Guide, available to download for free, in multiple languages https://lnkd.in/dTwT4bdN ♻️ 💰 From Institute for Transportation and Development Policy and The World Bank - The Path Less Travelled: Scaling Up Active Mobility to Capture Economic and Climate Benefits https://lnkd.in/dNqgpae9 👣 🚲 From The Partnership for Active Travel and Health - National Policies for Walking and Cycling in all 197 UNFCCC countries https://lnkd.in/dGbBxb3D Happy World Bicycle Day! #cycling #activemobility #safestreets

Please join us in welcoming our newest team member: Jose Guzman! José, an urban planner from Venezuela now based in Chile, joins as a Program Associate for the Streets for Kids team. He has previously contributed to Streets for Kids as a consultant, developing GDCI’s forthcoming handbook supplements to the "Designing Street for Kids" guide that focus on evaluating and implementing street transformation that cater to the needs and wishes of children and their caregivers. Welcome aboard, José!

Don't miss GDCI at the Start with Children conference next week! 📚 If you visit our booth, you'll get an exclusive preview of the latest publications from the Streets for Kids team and can sign up to receive news when they are officially launched. 🚸 🚲 🚶🏽♀️🚶🏽♂️ "How to Engage Kids in Street Design” is a practical and actionable resource comprising a set of concepts, tools, and case studies to inspire engagement with kids in shaping the streets they use. It aims to increase awareness of the importance of involving kids in street design, highlighting the benefits of their perspectives, and fostering a deeper understanding of their needs and preferences. 📈 🎒 🚦 “How to Evaluate Street Transformations Near Schools” offers comprehensive guidance on planning the evaluation process, defining project goals, and choosing metrics to measure what matters the most. Featuring global case studies, it gives specific recommendations for on-site data collection near schools, choosing appropriate methods and tools, gathering insights, communicating findings, and planning future action. Executive Director Skye Duncan will also be presenting at: Shaping Streets for Kids Tuesday, May 28, 11:40 a.m. CET Old Market Hall, Bratislava, Slovakia Plus, don't miss Eduarda Aun Jose Guzman showcasing tools and activities from the guides at: Play Street neighborhood festival - open to the public Tuesday, May 28, 2:00 - 7:00 p.m. CET Klobučnícka and Nedbalova Streets (next to the Old Market Hall) Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eVARpvww Hope to see you there! Metropolitný inštitút Bratislavy Start with Children Summit City of Bratislava FIA Foundation Fondation Botnar Van Leer Foundation #safestreets #schoolstreets #roadsafety

🎲 Do you like to have fun while learning? GDCI worked with the city of Recife to create a new game to help understand and apply the principles and methodologies in the Recife Urban Street Design manual, adapted from GDCI's award-winning Global Street Design Guide. Last week in Recife, Brazil, our team tested it out for the first time at three different workshops for architecture and urban planning students and city government practitioners. Players had to make a fictional street safer, more accessible, comfortable, and attractive, and completed tasks such as applying various project implementation tools, getting a budget, and creating areas adapted for different purposes -- residential, commercial, environmental, cultural -- and all kinds of people, such as pedestrians, cyclists, and public transit users. We're looking forward to playing the game at more workshops soon! Bloomberg Philanthropies Prefeitura da Cidade do Recife #streetdesign #safestreets #streetsforpeople