European Mobility Week kicks off in Budapest, with the Netherlands as guest

Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony called for transforming cities in the interest of putting up an effective fight against climate change and adapting to the new situation, on the occasion of the start of the European Mobility Week environmental campaign on Monday.

Though flood protection is the capital’s most pressing issue at the moment, making it harder to draw attention to the mobility week, the two issues are closely linked, the mayor told a press conference in Budapest.

“Recently in Budapest we’ve had possibly the hottest and driest August of the century, and now there are thousands working to make sure that the river doesn’t flood the capital,” Karácsony said, adding that this, too, showed that climate change was now affecting everyday life.

This year’s European Mobility Week is all about transforming public spaces and building transport infrastructure in a way that does not just serve transportation but also climate adaption goals, he said.

The mayor said the Netherlands is a key partner of the Budapest programme this year, “from whom we have a lot to learn, as it is a leader in humanising its public spaces” and providing transport opportunities to residents that are compatible with green urban policy and the fight against climate change.

Karácsony noted that Budapest last year won the European Commission’s European Mobility Week Award.

Source: BKK

Desiree Bonis, the Dutch ambassador to Hungary, said the 1973 oil crisis that was the main catalyst in the Netherlands becoming a cycling nation. Afterwards, many more people started using their bicycles and began to organise themselves politically as well in order to force the government to develop the infrastructure for safe cycling.

She said an exhibition on how the Netherlands became a cycling nation opened at City Hall Park on Monday.

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