India and Germany share a longstanding and close cooperation on climate, the environment and sustainable development. Since 2008, India is one of the priority countries with which the International Climate Initiative (IKI) maintains a particularly close cooperation. The IKI projects in India are implemented in cooperation with the Indian Government and address a wide range of climate actions, aim to restore and conserve natural carbon sinks and to conserve biodiversity.

Zooming-in on Implementation on the Ground

An apt example of Indo–German cooperation is in the area of sustainable mobility. In 2020, a bold vision to transform urban mobility took shape through the collaborative efforts of India's Smart Cities Mission, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), and the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), which was supported by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Government. The India Cycles4Change and Streets4People Challenges were launched with the goal of reshaping India's streets into safer, more accessible spaces for walking and cycling. What began as a shared ambition quickly evolved into a dynamic journey of change that has reshaped the landscape of urban mobility across the nation.  Over four years, the Challenges enabled participating cities to build strong partnerships, engage communities, and strengthen their capacities by collaborating with national and local experts to create safer and more accessible streets for everyone.

About the Project: from challenge to change

As the project reports, this level of commitment was urgently needed and remains essential. Many of India's streets have become increasingly unsafe, with pedestrians accounting for 20% of road fatalities in 2022, resulting in a tragic loss of 32,800 lives, as reported by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH). Additionally, India's air pollution and environmental quality rank among the worst globally. To address these challenges, it is crucial to encourage more people to choose walking and cycling over private vehicles whenever possible. In response, ITDP, with ongoing support from the IKI, has been working with Indian cities to foster safer and more supportive environments for both new and existing pedestrians and cyclists, driving this much-needed shift.

When the national Challenges began in 2020, the team quickly realized that expecting rapid on-the-ground transformations was overly ambitious. While 117 cities had signed up, each was at a different stage in its journey in terms of resources, infrastructure, geography, and institutional set-up. Despite the friendly, competitive spirit of the initiative, fairness would be compromised if cities began from such varied starting points. As a result, the team reassessed and revised the approach. The focus shifted from solely measuring the scale of physical transformations to also emphasizing the importance of mainstreaming dialogue around walking and cycling, enhancing community engagement, and building a solid foundation for capacity building and institutional reform.

The National Government and ITDP focused on three key strategies to ensure the sustainability of their efforts over the four years. First, they built an ecosystem of champions, including city leaders and local communities, for guidance. Second, they encouraged cities to engage citizens from the outset to secure their buy-in. Third, they consistently enhanced cities' technical capacities through innovative methods.

Building Local and National Ecosystems of Champions for Sustainable Mobility

At the start of the Challenges, cities were tasked with piloting walking and cycling interventions locally and gathering community feedback before making permanent changes. Many cities successfully used tactical urbanism to test designs that could evolve based on public consultation. For example, Kohima transformed an old parking lot into a vibrant community space for pedestrians and cyclists, featuring food vendors, pop-up seating, colourful artwork, and new landscaping. They also organized street festivals to activate the community. Cities without the expertise formed partnerships with civil society organizations, design experts, resident groups, and cycling advocates, demonstrating the value of building a local ecosystem of champions. These stakeholders guided cities through the design and implementation process, ensuring sustainability and impact.

At the national level, a similar ecosystem was taking shape. The commitment to promoting active mobility was fully supported by the National Ministry, driven by strong leadership that believed in the cause. This inspired many city leaders to become champions themselves. The national ecosystem was further strengthened through collaboration with organizations like ITDP, which offered technical expertise and guided cities through the process.

Engaging Communities to Drive Behaviour Change and Embrace Walking and Cycling

No best practice can truly take shape without active citizen and public engagement. Initially, cities faced significant challenges in motivating their residents, changing perceptions, and overcoming stereotypes about cycling and walking. Many viewed these modes of transport as impractical alternatives to personal vehicles. However, as the Challenges evolved, involving communities in decision-making became essential for fostering a sense of ownership, which led to greater acceptance and shifts in behaviour. Take Davanagere, for example. The city launched a creative campaign that made cycling 'cool' again, featuring themed merchandise, bike rallies, and citywide promotions. Soon, local residents wholeheartedly embraced cycling, rallying around the vision for safer and more sustainable mobility. That is the power of bringing people along for
the ride.

Empowering Cities through Expertise, Innovation, and Interactive Learning

Equipping cities with the right expertise and skillsets was also a critical part of the strategy. Throughout the process, ITDP facilitated 18 sessions, including national workshops on Healthy Streets and Public Spaces in Bengaluru, Chandigarh, and Pimpri Chinchwad, along with interactive design clinics where city leaders received expert guidance. Over 85 toolkits and technical resources on planning, budgeting, and infrastructure design were developed and shared during these workshops.

To make capacity building more engaging, ITDP introduced an innovative gamified approach. This interactive experience allowed city leaders to learn how to create a 3-year Healthy Streets Action Plan with clear interventions to ensure action on-ground, foundation set-up through intuitional reform, and communication for citizen buy-in. By moving beyond traditional presentations, this 'gamification' strategy provided a hands-on, immersive learning experience, allowing leaders to better understand the complexities of sustainable mobility.

Paving the Way for Long-term Transformation in Indian Cities

By January 2024, 15 cities had emerged as leaders, with many others making significant progress in transforming their streets. Across 33 cities, more than 350 km of improved footpaths and over 220 km of cycle tracks were developed, while 48 cities initiated projects to revamp over 1,400 km of streets. Additionally, 15 cities adopted Healthy Streets Policies, 18 established dedicated Healthy Streets cells, and 17 cities created the three-year action plans. To sustain this momentum, 33 cities formed Apex Committees to foster ongoing collaboration.

As the Cycles4Change and Streets4People Challenges come to an end, these initiatives have set the stage for lasting change across India. Their success extends beyond immediate outcomes, focusing on building a sustainable framework that fosters ongoing dialogue, strengthens capacity, and cultivates a network of walking and cycling advocates. With the Ministry and ITDP's efforts, a strong foundation has been laid to scale up walking and cycling infrastructure nationwide. Now, it is vital for the national government to capitalize on this momentum by increasing funding and enhancing policies and reforms to create safe, inclusive streets for everyone. Let the next chapter of transformation begin!

About Institute for Transportation and Development Policy 

The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) works with cities worldwide to create healthy and liveable communities through high-quality public transport including e-mobility, safe spaces for walking and cycling, traffic reduction mechanisms, and people-centred policies.

We believe that shifting from single-occupancy private cars to high-capacity public transport and zero-carbon modes such as walking and cycling, would drastically cut emissions, reduce traffic congestion, and better connect low-income communities to the opportunities and resources they need.

In India we work with governments, multilateral agencies, and civil society to make visible, on-the-ground improvements by providing technical expertise, policy solutions, research publications, and training programmes, at national, state and city levels.

About the International Climate Initiative

The International Climate Initiative (IKI) is part of the German Federal Government's international climate finance commitments.

The IKI is implemented by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) in close cooperation with the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) and the Federal Foreign Office (AA).

The IKI has been funding the India Sustainable Mobility Initiative since 2015. With this project, the German Government is supporting ITDP's commitment in the field of sustainable transport and mobility. Within the German Government, BMUV is in the lead for this project. #