The Global Designing Cities Initiative’s mission is to transform streets around the world. We do so through our programmatic work that spans over 30 countries around the world. Our team is currently focused on three programs, leveraging our expertise in cities and in the design of their streets.
Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety
The Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS) provides cities worldwide with a comprehensive package of activities proven to save lives, such as strengthening national legislation; enhancing data collection and surveillance; changing road user behavior; improving road infrastructure; and upgrading vehicle safety. We began our partnership with this initiative in 2016 and have since collaborated with 18 cities in 11 countries to provide design guidance, implement road safety interventions and conduct capacity-building workshops, using the Global Street Design Guide as a blueprint for change.
Streets for Kids
The Streets for Kids program aims to inspire leaders, inform practitioners, and empower communities to make cities around the world better for children and their caregivers. We work with cities around the world to apply child-focused strategies found in the Designing Streets for Kids guide through streetscape transformations, workshops, and training. As a part of Streets for Kids, we also partner with the Van Leer Foundation’s Urban 95 program, working with leaders, planners, designers, advocates and communities to support the healthy development of young children and the wellbeing of caregivers in cities.
Bloomberg Initiative for Cycling Infrastructure
The Bloomberg Initiative for Cycling Infrastructure (BICI) will fund ambitious cycling infrastructure projects in 10 cities by providing grants of $400k USD to $1M USD. Selected cities were announced on June 2 2023, ahead of World Bicycle Day. The cities will begin receiving world-class technical assistance by GDCI in the latter half of 2023, using the global best practices found in our Global Street Design Guide.
