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.
Caminhos da Escola: How Streets for Kids transformed school streets in Fortaleza’s Planalto Ayrton Senna neighborhood
In 2019, Fortaleza established the Caminhos da Escola (Pathways to School) program with the goal of reducing the number of children killed and injured in road crashes.
My Way to School: Making kids’ journeys to school in Santiago, Chile, safer and more enjoyable
In 2019, the GDCI team selected the capital city of Santiago, Chile, as a Streets for Kids Technical Assistance project. Together with Ciudad Emergente, a Chilean nonprofit, we selected Enrique Soro street as the project site. The project’s main objectives were to establish safe intersections, extend sidewalks, and reduce speeds.
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.
Sixty leaders, twenty cities, one focus: How to make better streets for kids
GDCI’s first-ever Streets for Kids Leadership Accelerator welcomed 60 professionals from 20 cities around the world, all working at the intersection of children’s wellbeing and transportation. This competitively selected group came together for twelve online sessions over a six months period for an intensive course in street design best practices. Perhaps most importantly, this was a unique opportunity for them to share ideas, questions, and strategies with each other. Here’s a look back at what went into this program.
Introducing the Advisory Committee for the Bloomberg Initiative for Cycling Infrastructure (BICI) Program
The Global Designing Cities Initiative announced the Advisory Committee for the Bloomberg Initiative for Cycling Infrastructure (BICI) Program. The BICI Advisory Committee members bring decades of experience working in transportation and urban design in cities around the world. Together they provide diverse backgrounds in sustainable mobility and urban development, and collectively they will advise the city selection process, including reviewing and providing feedback on BICI’s application finalists.
On November 1, 2, and 3 we hosted three webinars about the Bloomberg Initiative for Cycling Infrastructure (BICI). These sessions provided an overview of the program, who’s eligible, the application process, and gave city leaders an opportunity to ask questions.
We want to help your city submit a strong application to BICI. In early November, we held informational webinars where we answered questions about the program and how to apply. Answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about BICI can be found here.
A street transformation in Sumgayit City, Azerbaijan, aims to reduce speeding and protect pedestrians
EASST, AMAK, and GDCI worked with the Sumgayit City Police and local engineers to develop plans for temporary road infrastructure changes around a school entrance
Connect with the GDCI team at NACTO’s Designing Cities 2022
NACTO’s 2022 Designing Cities conference will come together in Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville, Massachusetts, next week and the Global Designing Cities Initiative team is excited to be presenting three sessions throughout the event.
Piazze Aperte: Come Milano ha restituito le sue piazze ai suoi abitanti
A maggio 2022, il Comune di Milano ha implementato 38 interventi di urbanistica tattica e continua a progettarne di nuovi, con un residente milanese su due a 15 minuti (800 metri) da una delle Piazze tattiche.
Piazze Aperte: How Milan Gave its Piazze Back to the People
As of May 2022, the Municipality of Milan has now implemented almost 40 tactical interventions and continues to plan new ones—with one in two Milanese residents now living within 15 minutes (800 meters) of the Piazze.
