Ecocity Builders and City Space Architecture recently co-hosted a week-long field study in Bologna, Milan, and Venice led by Dr. Luisa Bravo. It was an eye-opening opportunity to experience additional examples of the progress being made in European cities toward recapturing public space for people.
Bologna’s Citta 30 policy has reduced speed limits on 70 percent of city roads to 30 kilometers per hour (or 18.6 miles per hour). Consistent with the European Commission’s recommendations, the city is primarily aiming to reduce traffic deaths and injuries in keeping with Vision Zero goals endorsed by the European Commission and adopted by many European cities. Within the first year of implementation, Bologna saw fewer crashes, a 50 percent reduction in traffic fatalities, and zero pedestrian deaths.
In addition to slowing traffic, Bologna is creating safer streets, (particularly for kids, seniors, and other vulnerable populations), by redesigning roadways with traffic calming features, car-free zones, and “school streets” that limit traffic near educational institutions. Bologna is also completing two new tram lines that further reduce auto dependency, particularly for underserved neighborhoods.
In addition, Bologna is greening many parts of the city though its Bologna Verde program, including places that lack public parks and other recreational facilities. Using District Labs, neighborhoods can propose public space designs that fit local needs.
Bologna Citta 30 was not a hit with everyone. The taxi drivers challenged the changes in court. In 2026, the Regional Administrative Court ruled that the original program was unlawful because it was imposed in a blanket fashion. The city then retooled the program in April 2026 by adopting specific local ordinances with technical specifications designed to satisfy the court’s requirements. This new version has also been challenged but as of this writing, the program is still in effect. In the meantime, the city launched a network of Citta 30 Ambassadors to investigate citizen concerns as well as explain the objectives of the program.
For its many accomplishments, Bologna won the 2024 European Mobility Week Award. But more importantly, in addition to creating safer, people-friendly streets, the city is reducing noise, lowering pollution, building a more livable community, and making progress toward its goal of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2030.
Unfortunately, Bologna was not one of the 17 European cities that I profiled in On the Road to People Friendly Mobility: A Progress Report from Europe and America (pdf freely accessible at People-Friendly-Mobility.pdf. ). Bologna certainly deserved to be included in that book and highlighted in Affordable Mobility for an Uncertain Future in the March 2026 issue of Ecocities Emerging along with Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Paris, Utrecht, Antwerp, Hamburg, and London.
While European cities like Bologna are supported by the European Commission in their effort to create a more balanced use of public space, the current federal administration in the United States is fighting cities that want to reduce auto dependency and lower addiction to fossil fuels. As described in Support People-Friendly Mobility in the February 2026 issue of Ecocities Emerging, the US Department of Transportation has rescinded grants for bikeways and complete street projects found to be “hostile to cars”. “The department seems determined to retain a car-dependent society and an oil-addicted economy despite rising traffic fatalities, climate changing emissions, struggling city finances, a housing crisis, rising healthcare costs, and the fact that there are many Americans who have no access to a car.”
On the one hand, it’s disappointing that our federal government opposes state and local efforts to create a sane transportation system, climate action, and the evolution of sustainable, livable cities. But on the other hand, it is comforting to know that Bologna and many other cities in other parts of the world are making progress toward a greener future. Hopefully, someday soon, we will be following their lead.
Notes
Pruetz, Rick. 2025. On the Road to People-Friendly Mobility: A Progress Report from Europe and America. Arje Press. Accessed at People-Friendly-Mobility.pdf.
Pruetz, Rick. 2026. Affordable Mobility for an Uncertain Future. Ecocities Emerging. Accessed at Affordable Mobility for an Uncertain Future – Ecocities Emerging.
Pruetz, Rick. 2026. Support People Friendly Mobility. Ecocities Emerging. Accessed at Support People-Friendly Mobility – Ecocities Emerging.
Szpyrka, Michalina. 2025. Bologna slows down to speed up: how a 30km/h city is redefining urban living. Pulse. Accessed at Bologna slows down to speed up: how a 30 km/h city is redefining urban living – PulseZ.
