Best European Cities For Child-Friendly Mobility

Forbes

15-05-2025

The ranking was based on official data provided by city halls across Europe that evaluated three ... More benchmarks for making cities and mobility more child-friendly: Number of low or no traffic zones near schools, protected cycling infrastructure and safe speed limits.
Paris has made dramatic progress in recent years in its mobility infrastructure and is now considered one of Europe's best cities for children to walk, cycle and get around independently. The City of Light is first among 36 European cities for its relatively new and extensive network of protected bicycle lanes, reduced speed limits and low or no traffic zones near schools.
Amsterdam, Antwerp, Brussels, Lyon and Helsinki are close behind.
Those are a few highlights of a recent analysis of how the transport systems of 36 European cities prioritize the needs of children. A new ranking and accompanying report were released on Wednesday by the Clean Cities Campaign, a non-profit network of organizations, at the Start With Children summit in Bratislava, Slovakia.
'Children are less free to get around town and less active than they once were, especially girls,' Barbara Stoll, Clean Cities Campaign senior director said in a statement. 'But our ranking shows that parents, teachers and city administrations can make huge and rapid progress.'
The ranking was based on official data provided by city halls across Europe that evaluated three benchmarks for making cities and mobility more child-friendly:
Number of low or no traffic zones near schools
Called 'school streets,' these areas regulate traffic to boost road safety, limit noise and improve air quality, and create more space for children to walk, cycle and play. London has 525 near primary schools, far more than any other city in the ranking. Milan and Paris are runners up.
Protected cycling infrastructure
The City of Light is first among 36 European cities for its relatively new and extensive network of ... More protected bicycle lanes, reduced speed limits and low or no traffic zones near schools.
Children feel safer in cycle lanes that are physically separated from traffic, researchers said. Paris and Helsinki both enjoy a protected cycling network extending nearly half (48%) as long as their road networks, more than any other city in the ranking. Copenhagen comes next with 43%.
Safe speed limits
Urban speed limits of 30 km/h (about 18-19 mph) are known to reduce pollution and crashes. Paris limits speed on nearly all its road length (89%), more than any other city in the ranking, followed by Brussels and Lyon, Amsterdam, Bristol and Madrid.
From the report:
'In 2024, Bologna became the first major Italian city to introduce a 30 km/h speed limit across a large share of its urban road network.
Backed by Mayor Matteo Lepore, the 'Città 30' initiative aimed to cut road deaths, reduce pollution, and make public spaces safer and more welcoming for everyone.
The policy faced strong initial resistance, but just one year in, the results are striking: traffic collisions dropped by 13%, injuries by 11%, and road fatalities by 49%. For the first time since records began, no pedestrians were killed. Bicycle use, carsharing, and public transport have all increased, too.'
Germany and Poland have no cities in the top ten, researchers said, 'owing to a persistent car culture and cities lacking complete control of speed limits and parking.'
The 36 cities chosen represent a cross-section of geographical locations, urban sizes, and approaches to mobility, according to the report, and include those with long-standing commitments to safer, healthier, and more sustainable urban environments, like Amsterdam and Copenhagen, and relative newcomers, like Paris, Brussels and London..
Committed city leaders, more than national policies, were often the critical force behind a city's success, Clean Cities noted. The group recommends that governments empower cities more, and that the European Commission improve data collection rules and promote school streets and protected bike lanes in upcoming legal guidance.
'Taking a walk through Paris today is a breath of fresh air compared to 10 years ago,' Stoll, of the Clean Cities Campaign, added. 'It takes vision, leadership and sustained investment, but most cities can and should make similar progress.'
To view the complete list of 36 ranked cities and the full report, click here