Velo-city

Velo-city conference
Velo-city conference
Genre	Cycle planning conference
Frequency	Annual
Inaugurated	1980 (Bremen, West Germany)
Previous event	Velo-city 2024 Ghent
Next event	Velo-city 2025 Gdansk
Organised by	European Cyclists' Federation
Website	www.velo-city-conference.com

Velo-city is a conference series of cycle planning conferences that started in 1980 in Bremen, where advocates, cities, decision makers, academics, researchers and industry leaders meet to shape the future of cycling.

As annual flagship event of the European Cyclists’ Federation, Velo-city plays a valuable part in promoting cycling as a sustainable and healthy means of transport for all.^[1]

Hosted in a different city every year, the conference offers a knowledge-exchange and policy-transfer platform through its programme to more than 1600 Velo-citizens from over 60 countries^[2] involved in the policy, promotion of cycling, active mobility and sustainable urban development. In addition, the conference exhibition showcases the latest innovations for a better cycling experience. Answering the growing demand for expertise in cycling from cities, ECF has decided to hold an annual Velo-city conference in 2010.^[3]

Selection process

The European Cyclists’ Federation conducts international bidding processes, encouraging cities committed to sustainable and active mobility to apply for future conferences.^[4] After a period when public and local authorities are allowed to bid, ECF Board is in charge of assessing the proposals of cities for the title according to criteria specified in candidacy.

Every year, a host city is chosen for the edition coming in a three years time.^[5]

History

The German entrepreneur and cycling advocate Manfred Neun speaks at Velo-city in 2009

Hosted in a different city every year, the conference offers a knowledge-exchange and policy-transfer platform through its programme to more than 1600 Velo-citizens from over 60 countries^[6] involved in the policy, promotion of cycling, active mobility and sustainable urban development. In addition, the conference exhibition showcases the latest innovations for a better cycling experience.

Answering the growing demand for expertise in cycling from cities, ECF has decided to hold an annual Velo-city conference in 2010.^[7]

List of host cities

Velo-city editions have been held in these locations with the following themes:

Year	City	Country	Theme
1980	Bremen	West Germany
1984	London	United Kingdom
1987	Groningen	Netherlands	Planning for the urban cyclist
1989	Copenhagen	Denmark	How to make people use the bicycle
1991	Milan	Italy	The bicycle: improving mobility and the environment in our cities
1992	Montreal	Canada
1993	Nottingham	United Kingdom
1995	Basel	Switzerland	The bicycle, symbol of sustainable transport
1996	Fremantle	Australia
1997	Barcelona	Spain
1999	Graz Maribor^[8]	Austria Slovenia
2000	Amsterdam	Netherlands
2001	Edinburgh Glasgow^[9]	United Kingdom	Partnership for Change
2003	Paris^[10]	France	The bicycle as an essential tool for winning the city back
2005	Dublin	Ireland	Delivering the vision
2007	Munich^[11]	Germany	From vision to reality
2009	Brussels^[12]	Belgium	Re-cycling cities
2010	Copenhagen^[13]	Denmark	Different Gears, Same Destinations
2011	Seville^[14]	Seville	The Cycle of Life
2012	Vancouver^[15]	Canada	Cities in Motion
2013	Vienna^[16]	Austria	The Sound of Cycling – Urban Cycling Cultures
2014	Adelaide^[17]	Australia	Celebration of Cycling
2015	Nantes^[18]	France	Cycling: Future Maker
2016	Taipei^[19]	Taiwan	Evolution of Cycling
2017	Arnhem and Nijmegen^[20]	Netherlands	Freedom of Cycling
2018	Rio de Janeiro^[21]	Brazil	Access to Life
2019	Dublin^[22]	Ireland	Cycling for the Ages
2021	Lisbon^[23]	Portugal	Cycle Diversity
2022	Ljubljana^[24]	Slovenia	Cycling the Change
2023	Leipzig^[25]	Germany	Leading the Transition
2024	Ghent^[26]^[27]	Belgium	Connecting through Cycling
2025	Gdansk^[28]	Poland	Energising Solidarity
2026	Rimini^[29]	Italy