Inclusive Cycling Strategy for Metropolitan Lima

Year: 2022–2023  |  Client: C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group  |  Country: Peru

Under the C40 Cities Finance Facility, Cities Forum delivered a comprehensive inclusive cycling mobility strategy for the Lima Metropolitan Area with a 2040 horizon. Lima, one of Latin America's largest and most congested metropolises, had begun to expand its cycling network but lacked an integrated, equity-driven and climate-aligned plan capable of turning isolated ciclovías into a coherent system. The assignment set out to provide exactly that: a long-term vision backed by data, designs, governance arrangements and a credible financing roadmap.

Our approach

The engagement opened with a detailed diagnostic of the existing network, a safety and risk assessment of key corridors, and the collection and analysis of bicycle-flow data through on-site counting equipment installed across several Lima districts. A team of transport engineers and urban planners combined these measurements with stakeholder interviews, municipal authorities, cycling associations and private operators, and an evaluation of the EdUbici cycling-education programme to understand the city's cycling culture and the barriers facing women, low-income users and residents of historically underserved districts. International benchmarking drew practical lessons from Bogotá's cycle infrastructure, Santiago's plan integrador and European cycling-friendly cities, each adapted to Lima's topography, climate and modal share.

What we delivered

On this foundation the team articulated a vision for gender-inclusive, climate-aligned cycling; prioritised corridor-level investments; defined governance mechanisms spanning the metropolitan and district administrations; and proposed a structured financing strategy mobilising municipal budgets alongside multilateral and climate funds. Particular attention was paid to safety, connectivity with mass transit, and the everyday needs of women cyclists, whose travel patterns and security concerns are too often overlooked in conventional network design.

Impact

Deliverables comprised the main strategic document, technical annexes with preliminary designs and cost estimates, quarterly progress presentations to C40 and the Municipalidad Metropolitana de Lima, and a capacity-building package for public officials. The strategy positioned cycling as a central pillar of Lima's climate-action agenda, with concrete milestones for modal shift, reductions in transport emissions, safety improvements and equitable access. Beyond the document itself, the project strengthened the technical capacity of the metropolitan administration to plan, finance and deliver active-mobility infrastructure, and demonstrated how a global climate network and a specialised European consultancy can jointly support a Global South megacity in making cycling a mainstream, inclusive mode of transport.