Bradford to host this year's Cycle City, Active City conference

Bradford will this May host what is billed as Europe’s biggest cycling and active travel conference, Cycle City Active City, with hundreds of delegates from the UK and the continent expected to attend.

Venues including the Alhambra, the National Media Museum and City Park will host the event, which will be supported by West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s CityConnect team.

The programme will include presentations from leading figures in “active travel policy, infrastructure design and delivery, behaviour change marketing, public health campaigns and evidence,  place-making inspiration and examples and much more.”

Councillor Keith Wakefield, West Yorkshire Combined Authority Transport Chair, said: “Hosting Cycle City Active City in Bradford will be a great opportunity to showcase how we are supporting economic growth and job creation by developing a modern, integrated transport network for the City Region, with cycling and walking as key elements.

“Delegates from across Europe will be able to visit the 14km Cycle Superhighway connecting Braford and Leeds city centres, the first of its kind outside London, and hear what we are doing to develop cycling and active travel to address issues such as poor health and low air quality.

“It will also be an opportunity for us to learn from our colleagues about similarly innovative schemes across Britain and Europe.”

Bradford Council’s Executive Member for Environment Sport and Culture, Councillor Sarah Ferriby,  said:

“We are delighted to be hosting the Cycle City Active City in Bradford. 2017 is going to be an exciting year for Bradford in terms of cycling with key events being Stage three of the Tour de Yorkshire starting in Bradford city centre and going through the district, the Women in Cycling Conference and now this conference and exhibition.

“We already regularly host the cyclo-cross championships in one of our parks and our district provides fantastic opportunities for people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities to get on their bikes.”

Now in its fifth edition, previous events have been held in Birmingham, Leeds, Newcastle and Leicester.

This year’s event takes place from 11-12 May 2017 and more information can be found on its website.