London Walking and Cycling Conference
The London Walking and Cycling Conference is a yearly event, co-hosted by Hackney Council and the City of London Corporation. It brings together professionals, experts, academics, community groups and more. At the conference they discuss the latest developments in sustainable transport, key learnings from across the world and the best case studies.
To find out more, visit London walking and cycling conference.
Previous conferences
In 2023 the conference returned. It took place on Friday 9 June 2023 and for the third time returned to the Guildhall, City of London. It was again co-hosted by Hackney Council and the City of London Corporation.
In attendance were over 225 delegates, speakers and exhibitors, and was chaired by Jools Walker.
Highlight presentations from the day included:
- Will Norman, Walking and Cycling Commissioner for London
- Lee Waters, Deputy Minister for Climate Change for Wales
- Orla Campbell, Head of Regional Engagement at Active Travel England
- Marco te Brömmelstroet, Assistant Professor in Urban Planning at the University of Amsterdam and author
- Aminah Ricks, Founder of FuturePlanners.City, architect, urbanist and author
- a live recording of the Streets Ahead podcast
You can find a full list of speakers below.
To see the conference agenda, see London walking and Cycling conference agenda (PDF 432kb).
If you would like to see slides by any of the speakers, request access by emailing movegreener@hackney.gov.uk
2023’s edition of the conference was themed ‘taking walking and cycling to the next level: the path to climate neutrality’. This references the large improvements in supporting walking and cycling in London and across the world, whilst also understanding that there is a great deal still to do.
Conference welcome
- Cllr Mete Coban, Cabinet member for environment and transport, Hackney Council
- Shravan Joshi MBE, Chair of the Planning & Transportation Committee at the City of London
Opening plenary
- Will Norman, London Walking & Cycling Commissioner
- Lee Waters, Deputy Minister for Climate Change for Wales
- Orla Campbell, Head of Regional Engagement at Active Travel England
Creating, communicating and delivering sustainable transport concepts
- Hirra Khan Adeogun, Head of Car Free Cities at Possible
- Ersilia Verlinghieri, Senior Research Fellow at the Active Travel Academy
- Pepe Monroy, Senior Manager of Walking and Cycling at C40
- Tanya Braun, Director of Policy and Communications at Living Streets
NRP presents: the project showcase
- Keith Firth, Director of Traffic & Transportation at NRP
- Simon Phillips, Assistant Director for Sustainable Development and Climate Change Response, Lambeth Council
- Eve Holt, Strategic Director at Greater Manchester Moving
- Ludo Pittie, Director and Head of Landscape at WSP
- Michael Howard, Head of Active & Sustainable Transport at City of York Council
- Niamh Sutherland, Senior Engineer at Momentum Transport Consultancy
Writing for positive change
- Marco te Brömmelstroet, Assistant Professor in Urban Planning at the University of Amsterdam and co- author of Movement: how to take back our streets and transform our lives
- Aminah Ricks, Founder of FuturePlanners.City, architect, urbanist and author
Turning research into meaningful action
- Dr Eva Neitzert, Director of Just Economics
- Robin Hewings, Programme Director of Campaign to End Loneliness
- Dulce Pedroso, PhD researchers at the University of Westminster Active Travel Academy
- Andrew Simms, Badvertising
- Richard Dilks, Chief Executive of CoMoUK
London Steps
- Emma Griffin, Co-founder of Footways
- Jack Skillen, Placeshaping Director at Team London Bridge
- John Futcher, Lead Sponsor for Healthy Streets, Transport for London
- Edie Gill Holder, Creative Producer at Glimpse
- Simon Munk, Head of Campaigns at London Cycling Campaign
- Dr Tom Cohen, Senior Lecturer in Transport, University of Westminster
Streets ahead podcast live recording
- Laura Laker, Active Travel journalist, editor and writer
- Phil Jones, Technical Advisor to Cycling & Walking Commissioner for West Midlands
- Cllr Mete Coban, Cabinet member for environment and transport, Hackney Council
- Cllr Liz Clements, Cabinet member for transport, Birmingham City Council
Conference close
- Cllr Mete Coban, Cabinet member for environment and transport, Hackney Council
The 2022 annual London Walking and Cycling Conference took place on Friday 10 June at the Guildhall, City of London.
The event drew over 200 delegates, exhibitors and speakers. Chaired by Jools Walker, the conference included presentations from:
- Seb Dance, Deputy Mayor of London for Transport
- Dame Jane Roberts, Chair of Living Streets
- Shravan Joshi, Chair of the Planning & Transportation Committee at the City of London Corporation
- Philip Glanville, Mayor of Hackney
The full list of speakers and links to their presentation slides can be found below. The conference agenda can also be found here.
The theme of the 2022 conference was ‘walking and cycling towards a fair and inclusive city’. Our programme brought together people from across London, the UK and the world to demonstrate how we can develop more inclusive streets, make cycling more accessible to under-represented groups, and ensure planning decisions truly incorporate the needs of everyone.
The London Walking and Cycling Conference is brought to you by Hackney Council and the City of London Corporation, sponsored by Steer.
Opening Plenary
Shravan Joshi MBE, chair of the planning and transportation committee at the City of London Corporation
Dame Jane Roberts, Living Streets chair
Seb Dance, Deputy Mayor of London for transport
Session 1: Inclusive Streets
Lucy Saunders, director at Healthy Streets
Alex Doran, senior consultant at Steer
Advancing equity and justice in active travel
Dinah Bornat, director at ZCD Architects
Our future streets: working with children and young people
Session 2: Project showcase – design and infrastructure
Neil Webster, director at Remit Consulting
Anna Rowell, principal programme officer at Greater London Authority
Realising opportunities for London’s streets through collaborative infrastructure delivery
Martin Jones, landscape architect at Enfield Council
The Moore Brook Green Link rain garden scheme
Ted Maxwell, regeneration manager at Oxford City Council
Broad Meadow, Oxford: meanwhile can be worthwhile
Peter Hazzard, principal engineer at Hackney Council
Reimagined Stoke Newington Church Street
Post-lunch address
Philip Glanville, Mayor of Hackney
Session 3: Project showcase – the value of local initiatives for increasing walking and cycling in under-represented groups
Carolyn Axtell, car free London campaigner at Possible
Opening the floodgates to a torrent of suppressed demand for cycling among London’s diverse communities!
Philip Dobson, founder of upCycle
Helping young people from ethnic minority groups get into cycling
Amy Foster, local groups coordinator, Living Streets
Stewart Dring, cycling projects manager at London Cycling Campaign
Cycle Buddies – build it and they will come? Lessons from London Cycling Campaign’s rider pairing programme
Ruth Chiat, head of behaviour change and healthy streets at Sustrans
Chrisp Street Community Cycle Hub: empowering the least represented
Session 4: Active Travel – An international perspective
Christopher Hrones, director of strategic transit initiatives at New York City department of transportation
NYC Streets Plan – bringing sustainable transportation to all New York
Melissa and Chris Bruntlett, authors and urban mobility advocates
The equitable case for fewer cars in our lives
Closing Plenary
Caroline Stickland and Dr Amy Kavanagh, CEO and associate consultant at Transport for All
Walking, wheeling, and cycling for everyone
Ross Atkin, director at Ross Atkin Associates
Considering diverse accessibility needs in street design: developing the City of London street accessibility tool
Cllr Mete Coban, Cabinet member for energy, waste, transport and public realm, Hackney Council
The 2021 annual London Walking and Cycling Conference took place on Wednesday 24 November, taking the form of interactive walking and cycling tours exclusive to borough officers.
The tours showcased improvements to walking and cycling in the City of London and in Hackney and provided an opportunity to see exemplary active travel interventions in operation – for example the City of London’s Covid-19 City Streets programme and Hackney’s School Streets programme expansion and Low Traffic Neighbourhoods.
This year saw the London Walking and Cycling Conference go online as a webinar series, in partnership with the City of London Corporation and sponsored by Steer.
There’s never been a better time to discuss the role of walking and cycling in our lives as the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown has highlighted the importance of active travel for work, leisure and health.
First webinar – travelling to school during the pandemic
Thursday 22 October
Julie Bowerman, director at Steer chaired the webinar and was joined by:
- Stephen Edwards (Living Streets) – Walking to school during the pandemic
- Phil Dobson (upCYCLE) – Founding upCYCLE and cycling to school for minority ethnic children
- Dominique Humbert (Hackney Council) – School Streets: avoiding a car-led recovery from lockdown
Second webinar – walking and cycling whilst Black: barriers, policy and progress
Thursday 26 November
Laura Laker, writer and journalist, chaired the second webinar and was joined by:
- Jools Walker (Author of “Back in the Frame”) – Barriers, progress and personal experience for Black people in cycling
- Temi Lateef (Black Riders Association and My-Choice) – My journey into cycling
- Denean Rowe (Centre for London) – Why many Black people don’t cycle and the role that policy can play in changing this
Third webinar – Consultation in the time of Covid-19: Lessons for the Future
Thursday 17 December
Simon Hollowood, Associate at Steer chaired the webinar and was joined by:
- Richard Eason (Enfield Council) – Enfield Town liveable neighbourhoods
- David Sutanto (Steer) – Equalities and street schemes
- Kirsty Hoyle (Transport for All) – The importance, and impact, of co-production with disabled and older people in the design, delivery and evaluation of services
In 2019 a significant expansion of what was once the Hackney Cycling Conference occurred. The partnership with the City of London Corporation brought not only a change of venue but also the inclusion of walking, to evolve into the London Walking and Cycling Conference, in partnership with Steer.
The event drew over 220 delegates, exhibitors and speakers. With VIP guests including Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, Judith Bokhove, Vice Mayor for Mobility, Rotterdam, Philip Glanville, Mayor of Hackney and Cllr Caro Wild, Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Transport, Cardiff Council to name a few
Other presenters included:
- Will Norman, London walking and cycling commissioner
- Jennifer Keesmaat, CEO of The Keesmaat Group
- Alastair Moss, chair of the planning and transportation committee, City of London Corporation
- Alice Saunders, strategic analyst, TfL
- Clare Wadd, chair, Inner London Ramblers
- Dan Johnson, director of placemaking, New West End Company
- Tom Cherrett, professor of logistics and transport management, University of Southampton
Morning plenary
- Judith Bokhove, Vice Mayor for Mobility Rotterdam – Rotterdam Walking & Cycling, Go For It!
- Cllr Caro Wild, Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning & Transport, Cardiff – presentation
Stream 1 – Understanding Needs
- Alice Saunders, analyst, City Planning TfL – Mystery Shopping London’s Streets: How attractive are London’s streets for walking and cycling?
- Shelly Bontje, sustainable mobility consultant, Mobycon – Real-world Assessment of the Walking Environment in Rotterdam
- Averil Pittaway, strategic transport officer, City of London Corporation – Taking Consultation to the Streets: How early and regular engagement led to a more radical transport strategy
- Aurora Canales, consultant, Steer – Mobility Through a Gender Perspective in Mexico City
- Dr Robert Davis, chair, Road Danger Reduction Forum – Measuring Danger Rather than Counting Casualties
Stream 2 – Widening the Appeal
- Neil Andrews, campaign and policy manager, Wheels for Wellbeing – Inclusive Mobility and Crime Prevention: a Case Study
- Neil Webster, founder, Cyclo Consulting – Lessons from Japan
- Kevin O’Sullivan, principal and cycle campaigner, Cycle Legal – Dockless Bike Hire and Tottenham FC
- Katy Miller, founder, Ride Clean – Contrasting Challenges Faced in Residential and Urban Areas – Provisions for Maintaining Bicycles
- Melissa Bruntlett, co-founder, Modacity – Changing Hearts and Minds – 8 Rules of Effective Bike Marketing
- Nick Butler, National Modeshift Awards manager, Modeshift – The Journey to School as a Keystone of a Healthy Transport Network
Afternoon plenary
- Silviya Barrett, research manager, Centre for London – Next Generation Road User Charging
Stream 3 – Changing Vehicles
- Jeremy Leach, London campaign co-ordinator, 20’s Plenty for Us – Vision Zero: Tackling Vehicle Speed
- Sarah Clements, consultant, Element Energy – Cycle Freight in London
- Prof Tom Cherrett, professor of logistics and transport management, University of Southampton – Revisiting Walking Porters for Freight Delivery in London
- Richard Dilks, chief executive, CoMoUK – The Future of Shared Sport
Stream 4 – Case Studies
- Mark Strong, Transport Initiatives – Cycle Parking: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
- Dr Alex Longdon, principal city planner – Active Travel and Health, TfL – Making the Economic Case for Walking and Cycling
- Dan Johnson, director of placemaking, New West End Company – Transforming the Oxford Street District: Building a New West End
- Gillian Howard, principal project manager, City of London Corporation – Bank on Safety
- Mike Grahn, pedestrian crossings lead, Living Streets and Andy Rogers, Planning and Performance Manager for the West Area, TfL – Fairer Pedestrian Crossing Study
- Richard Eason, Healthy Streets programme director, Enfield Council – Creating Healthy Streets: Foundations for Success
Videos
Posters
- Nicolas Palominos, doctoral researcher, UCL Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis – Streetspace Designation Metrics
- Hackney Council –
The 7th annual Hackney Cycling Conference, 17 May, 9.30am-5pm, at Hackney Town Hall. Over 200 delegates attended, hearing from expert speakers from across the UK and Europe.
Presentations
- Jeanette Baartman, delivery planning manager, TFL City Planning, Health Streets – Developing new cycle routes for London
- Simon Phillips, transport manager, Lambeth Council – Developing a healthy route network
- Simon Munk, infrastructure campaigner, London Cycling Campaign and Jeremy Leach, Living Streets – Low traffic neighbourhoods
- Steve Brooks, director of Sustrans Cymru (Wales) – Planning for cycling in Cardiff
- Kevin Golding Williams, DfT – Creating active travel communities in England
- Laura Laker, journalist – Cycling is popular; when will politicians get it?
Stream 1: New models and technologies in the world of bike sharing
- Antonia Roberts, Bikeplus – New models and tech in bike share
- Dominic Smith, cycling infrastructure manager, TfGM – Planning for a step change in cycling in Manchester
Stream 2: Behaviour change in journeys to work, leisure and education
- Dominique Humbert, Hackney Council – Camera enforced car-free zones around schools and launch of the School Streets toolkit
- James Palser, senior project officer, Heathrow Cycling Partnership, Sustrans – Achieving modal shift with 76,500 workers
- Neil Webster, director, Remit Consulting / The Market Cycles – the impact of cycling on office buildings
- Alix Stredwick, CarryMe Bikes CIC / Family Cycling – problems, solutions and the hackney family cycling project
- Adam Walker ACIM, business operations manager – Quick win, low cost interventions
Stream 3: Non-cycling necessities to facilitate cycling
- Peter Siemensma, senior transport planner, Arcadis – Pedestrian and cyclist conflicts research from Amsterdam
- Mark Strong, Transport Initiatives – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly – Managing pedestrian and cyclist furniture conflict
- David Harrison, vice chair, London Living Streets – Central London walking network
- Tom Bogdanowicz – Reducing risk from construction vehicles to cyclists and walkers
- Hulya Ataoglu, principal workplace travel officer, Redbridge Council – Reducing the grey fleet
- David Dansky, CTUK – Potential to replace essential PHV journeys by side-by-side cycle
- Patrick Donnelly, LEN project manager, Hackney Council – Ultra low emissions streets and innovative timed restrictions
- Josh Liu, Founder, Honor Cycles – Start-ups and commercial innovation in the cycling sector
Videos
Presentations
- Lucy Saunders, TFL – Using your clinical judgement in applying the Healthy Streets approach
- Cllr Feryal Demirci, Hackney Council – Cycling towards healthy neighbourhoods – lessons learned from London’s only ‘superquietway’
- Andy Summers, TfL – The case for cycling investment
- Riccardo Bobisse, Steer Davies Gleave – Place-making and the experience of cycling
- Dr Jenny Mindell, UCL – Assessing and valuing the impacts of busy roads on local people
- Peter Murray, New London Architecture – Polycentric necessity of future cities
Stream 1: Complementary walking and cycling policy
- Matt Higgins, TFL – Mind the Mini-Holland: the potential for behavioural economics to improve the delivery of walking and cycling schemes
- Simon Munk, LCC and Tom Platt, Living Streets – Healthy Streets: how walking and cycling go together, and where they don’t
- Shaun Scholes, UCL – Casualty stats of those in control of vehicles v 3rd party
- Rory McMullan, City of London – Policy and action to protect vulnerable road users
Stream 2: Tools and research
- Dr Robert Davis, Road Danger Reduction Forum – Policing of close passing of cyclists by drivers
- Aled Davies, TfL – Cycling network model for London (Cynemon)
- Chris Chinnock, TfL – The analysis of cycling potential in London
- Dr James Woodcock, University of Cambridge – Impacts of cycling tool: health and more
Stream 3: Built environment and developments
- Brian Deegan, TfL – Cycle facilities and air pollution
- Giulio Ferrini, Systra – Segregated cycle infrastructure and property value in London
- Emily Gould, Steer Davies Gleave – Mobility as a service – what does it mean for cycling?
- Dave Swindells, JTP – Promoting good deVELOpment