Top sustainable cities unveiled

At a prestigious awards ceremony three European cities received the 2009 CIVITAS Awards for sustainable transport.

At a prestigious awards ceremony three European cities received the 2009 CIVITAS Awards for sustainable transport.

The sustainable urban mobility activities and programmes of Gent (Belgium), Nantes (France) and the London Borough of Sutton (UK), have been designated as the most 'outstanding, ambitious and innovative' of 2009 by the CIVITAS Political Advisory Committee.

Gent received The Future of Urban Mobility award for a CIVITAS demonstration city. Bicycles are at the heart of Gent’s mobility policy, and the city has proven its dedication to this priority through the creation of a large pedestrian area in the city centre, the development of a primary cycle network, a student-friendly bicycle rental system, and plans to build a garage for more than 10,000 bicycles.

These efforts are complemented by a host of public transportation services, namely extended tramlines, segregation of public transport lanes, longer operating hours, free night buses, and free public transport for children under the age of 15.

The CIVITAS City of the Year Award was handed to Nantes. Nantes’ winning entry focused on four action areas. The first two actions relate to the bus network: the development of a clean bus fleet (more than 80% of the city’s total bus fleet now runs on compressed natural gas); and the design of a new “Chronobus” quality and performance mark for bus lines within Nantes. Third, Nantes demonstrated aggressive improvement in bicycle use through the construction of secure bike parking spaces, extension of the rent-a-bike service, and experimentation with the use of foldable bicycles in combination with public transport. Finally, the city remodelled city centre roads to favour public transport, including trams, over private cars.

The London Borough of Sutton was the winner of the The Future of Urban Mobility Award for a CIVITAS non-demonstration city. “Smarter Travel Sutton” is the name of this London Borough’s social marketing programme to convince citizens to change their transport habits, and reduce resident car trips. Since 2006, Sutton Council has actively made contact with every household in the borough (population 185,000) in an attempt to encourage them to complete a personal travel planning project. All schools in Sutton have a school travel plan and more than 100 Sutton businesses have a workplace travel plan. The £5 million campaign is the largest and most ambitious campaign of its kind undertaken in Europe.

Cllr Colin Hall, Executive Member for Environment on Sutton Council said: "This is a tremendous result and I am delighted that Sutton is not only leading the way nationally but also internationally in promoting greener travel. Few other cities across Europe can match the giant strides we have taken over the last three years to promote walking, cycling and public transport, and reduce reliance on the car in Sutton.

"It is an honour for the council but also a reward for all the residents, schools, businesses and community groups who have taken part in the project. And the work continues with new projects on the way that aim to make walking, cycling and public transport the preferred way for people to travel around our borough."

The aim of the CIVITAS Awards is to showcase efforts by cities that turn policy into reality. Ultimately it is hoped that the CIVITAS programme and CIVITAS Awards will stimulate more and more cities across Europe to adopt similar sustainable urban transport policies.

Last Updated: 05/11/2009 11:30:19 By Charlotte Jacques