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Urban Awards is the award for sustainable mobility and cycling, created by Ludovica Casellati and promoted by ANCI (National Association of Italian Municipalities), Intesa Sanpaolo, Bosch and ANCMA (National Association of Cycle and Motorcycle Accessories).
The awards ceremony for this seventh edition will take place during the fortieth ANCI National Assembly in Genoa, scheduled for 24 to 26 October 2023 and nominations are open until Monday 9 October.
This initiative is open to all Italian Municipalities who can send their application by presenting their practices relating to sustainability linked to two wheels with pedals.
The Kairos institute has produced a survey showing that 83% of Italian travelers want to reduce CO2 emissions, with 61% willing to increase their budget to achieve this goal and 79% considering travel as an opportunity to act responsibly towards the environment.
The Urban Awards fits precisely into this situation as it rewards cities that stand out inadoption of sustainable mobility solutions.
“Municipalities that focus on safety and sustainable mobility invest in Italy's green future. The objective of the Urban Award is to encourage administrations to promote the creation of adequate cycle paths in cities and routes that safely facilitate bike to work and bike to school. In recent years the Urban Award has valorised the good practices of many cities, ensuring that a virtuous competition was triggered to reproduce these models,” he reported Ludovica Casellati, creator of the Urban Award and director of Viagginbici.com and Luxurybikehotels.com.
The safety is one of the main themes, with particular attention to integrated cycling "MaaS" (Mobility as a Service)
“ANCI is pleased to accompany the Urban Award in this new stage. Sustainable mobility has long been an integral part of the urban planning of all cities, there are dozens of urban redevelopment projects which include routes and infrastructures dedicated to the use of bicycles, two wheels in general and all green means of transport. These are, to all intents and purposes, daily means of transport that represent alternatives to the private car for leisure but also for traveling to work, to school, to return home", underlined the president of the ANCI Antonio Decaro.
Second ISFORT, 43% of the Italian population would like to increase the use of the bicycle, which nevertheless remains a very popular means of traveling to work among people between 45 and 54 years of age. While, second ISTAT, is used by 24% of students, aged between 14 and 17, followed by the 20-24 age group.
In Italy the use of bicycles is constantly increasing.
According to the Report drawn up by Banca Ifis, in fact, in 2022, the Italian bicycle production sector recorded approximately 2.0 billion euros in turnover, an increase of +10% compared to 2021 which had already proved to be a record year.
What pushed the sector was above all the growth in the production of electric bicycles, just think that in the three-year period 2019-22 the average growth rate of e-bike production was +21%.
“We believe in sustainable mobility in which the ebike can truly represent an alternative to traditional vehicles, with all the resulting benefits in environmental terms (the eBike emits 8-10 times less CO2 than a petrol car for the same of km travelled, as highlighted in our recent study), as well as social. To make this happen, we cannot ignore issues such as strengthening infrastructure and safety, a focus on which Bosch is constantly committed", he reported Federica Cudini, Country Marketing Manager Italy, Bosch eBike Systems.