Iginio Rossi, Francesco Sbetti INU – URBIT
In recent years, the promotion of active mobility has gained increasing importance in the development of policies, strategies, tools, practices and solutions aimed at improving people’s well-being and, consequently, public health, generating positive impacts on healthcare systems and public health more broadly. Yet these issues still have a relatively limited presence within political agendas and socio-cultural frameworks.
From this integrated perspective, the efficiency and liveability of cities and territories also depend on mobility networks that involve the physical activity of the people using them. For active mobility to “work”, it must, of course, be integrated into a broader framework of sustainable mobility, capable of connecting walking, pedestrian routes and trails, cycling, railways and local public transport. At the same time, it needs to be embedded in policies capable of influencing models and lifestyles that are more attentive to both environmental sustainability and health.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines active mobility as a “win-win” strategy and has long been committed to promoting it. This includes recommending at least 150–300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity per week; highlighting the health and environmental benefits of active mobility, including reduced risks of cardiovascular disease, improved mental health and increased life expectancy; emphasizing environmental benefits through reduced greenhouse gas emissions and improved air quality; and identifying key strategies for its promotion, including the development of safe infrastructure—such as pedestrian spaces and cycle lanes—and awareness campaigns encouraging active lifestyles.
Through its Epicentro portal, the Italian National Institute of Health (Istituto Superiore di Sanità – ISS) has developed a public health epidemiological monitoring programme. Each year, the ISS publishes data from the PASSI surveillance system, which monitors a range of health-related behaviours among people aged 18–69 in Italy, including active mobility. The system provides indicators on active mobility in general, walking and cycling for everyday trips, as well as on the proportion of people reaching the physical activity levels recommended by the WHO.
At the national level, in the 2023–2024 period, 42% of respondents reported engaging in active mobility, meaning that they had travelled by bicycle and/or on foot to work, school or for everyday journeys during the month preceding the interview. Compared with the WHO threshold of 150 minutes of physical activity per week, 19.2% were physically active through active mobility alone, 22% were partially active, while the remaining 58.8% travelled by motorised vehicles (private or public), with no or negligible walking or cycling.
The PASSI data also make it possible to further profile these patterns according to different socio-demographic characteristics. The proportion of people reaching the WHO-recommended levels of physical activity through active mobility is higher among younger age groups (18–24), women, people with higher levels of education, foreign nationals, and residents of Northern Italy compared with the rest of the country.
The data can also be broken down by region, providing information on habitual cycling and walking and active mobility practices. Emilia-Romagna, Trento and Bolzano perform particularly strongly across all four dimensions. Liguria and Piemonte stand out in three, excluding cycling. Sardinia, Marche and Molise stand out for walking and active mobility, while Veneto performs strongly in both active mobility and active mobility practices. Tuscany stands out specifically for cycling.
Within the WHO framework, and drawing on a national perspective as well as selected regional and local good practices, the meeting proposed by Urbanpromo will explore the practices and approaches aimed at bridging the effectiveness of urban environments with improvements in collective well-being through active mobility.
It is therefore useful to identify and examine the approach and positioning of the public authorities responsible for mobility governance, as well as the policies, strategies, tools and solutions they are implementing, together with those of the other public and private stakeholders involved.
The program of the event is in development.
Italiano
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