Transforming Belfast into a walking and cycling city

Belfast Healthy Cites, the World Health Organization representative in Northern Ireland, has welcomed the announcement by the Minister for Infrastructure, Nichola Mallon, on the pedestrianisation of streets and the widening of paths for walking and cycling. 

Speaking after the announcement was made by the Minister to the NI Assembly, Joan Devlin, Chief Executive of Belfast Healthy Cities, said “Walking and cycling should be a much greater part of our everyday lives, and the last few months has significantly increase these activities for many of us. To keep these activities in our daily life that are good for both our mental and  physical well-being  there will need to be a clear change in the infrastructure of our streets - this is something we found with our Walkability assessments across the city. These new steps to pedestrianise Hill Street and Gordon Street, as well as increasing space for walking and cycling through the Linen Quarter are a really positive move for all of us. 

“Cities across the WHO European Healthy Cities Network are making similar changes, where the city landscape can be transformed to people friendly places, where walking and cycling are the main choice for getting about. Even cities such as Utrecht in the Netherlands and Nice in France, which already have strong cycling infrastructure, are taking this opportunity to increase the healthy and active travel within the city. Belfast can learn from these cities and we look forward to our city transforming into a walking and cycling city.”