The Municipality of Bologna has won the European Mobility Week Award 2024. The Emilian capital, which over the past year has undertaken a sweeping urban mobility revolution — introducing 30 km/h zones across the entire city and closing many streets to traffic — received the European Mobility Week prize, awarded by the European Commission, at the hands of Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism Apostolos Tzitzikostas.

European Commission ✓ @EU_Commission

𝕏

Bologna 🇮🇹, Braga 🇵🇹 & Leipzig 🇩🇪 are shaping the future of sustainable urban mobility!

️As part of this year's #MobilityWeek Awards, these cities are proving that greener, people-friendly transport is already happening.

♥ 133💬 66 28 mar 2025 · Apri su X →

What is the European Mobility Week Award

The jury honoured Bologna for making sustainable mobility more accessible through an extraordinary series of Car-Free Days during Mobility Week, information stands and educational activities. During European Mobility Week, held every year from 16 to 22 September, cities can choose to host a Car-Free Day, with activities promoting new infrastructure and raising awareness of sustainable mobility options. In 2024, more than 2,700 cities in 45 countries took part, and more than 900 businesses, educational institutions, civil society organisations, citizen initiatives and municipalities registered mobility actions.

Bologna was selected for making sustainable mobility concepts and activities more accessible to the public. During European Mobility Week, the city hosted a series of information stands and educational activities related to sustainable urban mobility plans and the transformation of public space. Many private and citizen-led local organisations were involved in event planning, which helped foster a sense of community ownership. "Particularly noteworthy — the judges noted in the reasoning with which Bologna had been nominated alongside Portugal's Braga and Germany's Leipzig — is also the Bologna 30 initiative, under which 70 per cent of the municipality's roads have been permanently transformed into 30 km/h zones".

The week's events concluded with a car-free day in the city's historic and commercial centre. Alongside Bologna, Pěšky městem, a Czech association, was also recognised, winning the Mobility Action Award: Pěšky městem impressed with a national campaign promoting active mobility by engaging 501 schools across 338 Czech cities. The initiative encouraged families to walk to school, highlighting the benefits for health and the environment.

The two awards aim to raise awareness of sustainable urban mobility. Commissioner Tzitzikostas justified the two prizes by noting that "this year's winners excelled in designing dynamic public spaces that are accessible to all — spaces that are not only green areas, but also vibrant community hubs and meeting points. The finalists have shown that popular tourist destinations can also serve local communities by promoting sustainable transport." The award was collected in Brussels at the European Commission headquarters by councillors Michele Campaniello and Anna Lisa Boni: "Receiving this award and the support of the European Commission is incredibly meaningful to us and strengthens our commitment to promoting sustainable urban mobility and continuing to implement effective measures to give public space back to people."