June 19, 2024 - (Ghent, BEL) Velo-city is back and off to a strong start with a record-breaking attendance of more than 1,600 Velo-citizens. The quirky, vibrant city of Ghent sets the perfect backdrop for this year’s cycling summit. As every year, ECF’s daily reports are here to fill you in on the conference highlights!
Opening Plenary: Connecting through Cycling
Setting the stage for the week ahead, the cycling summit began with an epic bike race at the legendary ‘t Kuipke Velodrome, with Milan Thomas and Lieven Desomviele competing against Mathias Lefeber on a tandem bike. The Master of Ceremonies, Francesca Vanthielen, introduced the first speaker of the day, Matthias de Clercq, Mayor of the City of Ghent. Mayor de Clercq shared Ghent’s success story, detailing how it transformed into a cyclist’s haven with its pioneering spirit. Ghent became the first Belgian city to introduce a bicycle plan, implement bicycle streets, and create a largely car-free city centre. His speech was followed by inspirational words from ECF President Henk Swarttouw and Filip Watteeuw, Deputy Mayor of Ghent.
Next up was Janette Sadik-Khan, former transportation commissioner of New York City, who shared her story of how she transformed the city’s streets from pedestrianising Broadway in Times Square to building nearly 400 miles of bike lanes. While highlighting how, in major cities around the world, such as Paris and London, cyclists are now outnumbering car drivers, she underscored that building a cycling-friendly city will ultimately benefit everyone.
The plenary closed with a lively panel discussion. The biggest takeaway? Cycling breaks barriers and connects communities when designed inclusively.
Read the full report here.
