Inclusive Mobility: Key Focus for European Cities
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European Mobility Week 2025 kicked off today in over 2,500 cities, with a sharpened focus on inclusive access. Running from September 16 to 22, this year’s theme, “Mobility for everyone,” underscores a fundamental shift: clean, safe, and reliable transport shouldn’t be a luxury, but a right.
EU Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas framed the issue bluntly, calling mobility a “right,” not a “privilege.” That language reflects a growing recognition that transport is a precondition for full participation in city life, not just a climate strategy. The campaign challenges cities to make that vision tangible by reshaping streets, even temporarily, to show what equitable access could look like day to day.
On-the-ground Initiatives
On the ground, initiatives range from guided walks for seniors and inclusive bike tours to pop-up pedestrian zones and car-free experiments. These are more than symbolic gestures. They function as low-cost, high-impact pilots that let cities test new layouts and surface pain points in real time.
A shift in framing
What’s different this year is the framing. Inclusive mobility is no longer an optional lens, it’s the central narrative. Poor transport access for the elderly, disabled, or low-income residents gets treated not just as a social equity issue, but as a constraint on jobs, healthcare, and autonomy.
Looking beyond the European Mobility Week
Momentum doesn’t stop at the end of the week. European Mobility Week sets the stage for the EU Urban Mobility Days conference in Vilnius from September 30 to October 2, where officials and planners will convert pop-up insights into long-term infrastructure and policy agendas.
This week, as cities gather feedback and test small changes on the street, they’re also proving out a larger thesis that inclusive design is the fastest path to breaking car dependency for good.
But making it happen? Well, that’s a completely different issue, one that those in the EU Commission aren’t ready to tackle any time soon.
