The Global Designing Cities Initiative is committed to reimagining streets as places for people, shaping cities that are healthy, accessible, and equitable for everyone. We also recognize cycling as a safe, efficient, and sustainable mode of transportation.
In too many cities, cycling infrastructure is often unprotected, disconnected, incomplete, and in need of innovation. In Partnership with the Global Designing Cities Initiative, Bloomberg Philanthropies has recently launched the Bloomberg Initiative for Cycling Infrastructure (BICI)—a competitive grant program that will foster catalytic change in city cycling infrastructure around the world. Applications for the BICI program closed on February 3, 2023.
Despite the lack of safe cycling infrastructure that hinders many would-be cyclists around the world from relying on their bikes, there are a number of cities that have made significant progress in recent years.
Committed to making its streets more cycle-friendly, Quito, Ecuador, has implemented large-scale, successful cycling infrastructure projects that make it a cycling success story.
The cycling infrastructure projects in Avenida Amazonas, as well as Avenida Cardenal Norte, are among the active steps that the city of Quito has taken to prioritize the safety of its cyclists.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many cities faced the need to expand their alternative modes of transportation. This was the case with Quito’s cycling route along Avenida Amazonas. In July 2020, Quito’s Metropolitan Authority of Mobility began intervention for the interim cycle lane in Avenida Amazonas. Since then, Quito’s residents have been able to cycle in a safer, more sustainable way. According to a study conducted by the city’s Secretariat of Mobility, the number of trips by bicycle in Quito in July of 2020 increased by 600% as compared to January of the same year.
Protected cycle track in Avenida Amazonas. Quito, Ecuador.
As part of city-wide efforts to improve road safety, and to further provide residents with alternative transportation modes during COVID-19, nine kilometers of cycling lanes were installed in several areas in the South of Quito—including along Avenida Cardenal de la Torre.
These cycling infrastructure projects were an effort to not only promote active transportation modes that would help prevent the spread of COVID-19, but also to reduce the emission of air pollutants in Quito by reducing the reliance on motorized vehicles.
Protected cycle track in Avenida Amazonas. Quito, Ecuador.
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Scaling up Streets for Kids: Highlights from the 2025 Streets for Kids Leadership Accelerator
In 2025, GDCI brought together a selected group of 10 city teams working to scale up their efforts to create more and better Streets for Kids in Brazil, Colombia, and Ecuador through multiple projects, programs, and policies. Here’s a look back and key learnings from a two-month online capacity-building program.
In October 2024, the Streets for Kids project was inaugurated in the Jordão neighborhood in Recife, Brazil, a community where children faced multiple challenges accessing safe and high-quality public spaces. Heavy rains, frequent flooding, and landslide risks often made their journey to school dangerous and unpredictable. Throughout the process, children, caregivers, school staff, and residents were engaged to co-create solutions that improve access to schools, supporte outdoor play and social connection, and set a precedent for future child-focused street transformations in Recife.
Creating Safer Spaces for Play: Tackling Air Pollution in Accra
In collaboration with the Korle Klottey Municipality and with support from the Clean Air Fund, GDCI launched the Removing Pollution from Play project in late 2023, with the aim to tackle air pollution in school environments by implementing practical solutions, raising awareness, and empowering communities to advocate for cleaner air. In March 2025, the completed intervention was inaugurated, and the new safe play space now serves over 150 students in Accra.
