Bikeconomy and Well-being: Tourism, Mobility, and Sustainability on Two Wheels.
Madonna di Campiglio could become the new “Zermatt of Italy” and laboratory of sustainability thanks to bikenomics, which is driving the economy as it improves our quality of life.
MADONNA DI CAMPIGLIO: A NEW HORIZON FOR SUSTAINABLE TOURISM
I hadn’t been to Madonna di Campiglio in far too long. As soon as i came back, i was struck by an idea: to help create a laboratory of sustainability, a benchmark in tourism excellence, the “next zermatt”, thanks to bikenomics.
The cycling economy, or “bikenomics”, has recently been the topic of discussion of a great many conferences, articles and analyses, as well as of bikeconomy, a book i have written together with pierangelo soldavini and which is the first of its kind in europe. In 2016, the bikeconomy forum became the first conference in europe to look into the phenomenon. The cycling economy is worth more than €500 billion in the european union alone, and major cities are seeing it as a priority. London is investing €350 million of its congestion charges on smart mobility. Paris has created 1,000 kilometers of bike routes; new york, 700 kilometers over the span of just a few years, revolutionizing times square and making it a pedestrian-only zone.
SUSTAINABLE CITIES: THE FUTURE IS CAR-FREE
Oslo and helsinki are now completely closed to private-vehicle traffic, and toyota is designing the carfree city of the future at the base of mount fuji. The cycling economy saves billions of euros in health care and prevention, and just a 14% increase in cycling has eliminated €24 trillion in fuel consumption and is something of a lethal weapon against air and noise pollution. Bikenomics is part of the sustainable economy in which massive levels of investment are now being made, including €1 trillion by the eu and, above all, $40 trillion by climate action 100+. Covid-19 will also have a devastating effect, as just a few weeks of lockdown, with traffic nearly inexistent, have made heavily polluted areas - areas which not-so-coincidentally have the highest rates of infection - breathable again.
Covid-19 has helped us to see the world as if on the set of some major motion picture and to discover what our future may hold. The desire for a sustainable vacation getaway will be uncontrollable.
Madonna di campiglio can lead the way in this process
Gross domestic product (gdp) is increasingly being replaced by the index of sustainable economic welfare (isew). Within this context, the segments of the cycling economy may be broken down as follows: smart cities and smart mobility; tourism and cuisine; technology; fashion and design; infrastructure; bicycle and bike accessories production; finance; climate and the environment; health care; sports and fitness; and employment. Each segment is closely tied to the others, and this leads to countless combinations and synergies to create value, all with the amazing quality of being expressions of the sustainable economy.
WORK, TECHNOLOGY AND THE REBIRTH OF ITALIAN VILLAGES The need to study the great many interrelationships within this phenomenon has led to the creation of the bikeconomy observatory, a research team comprising experts from every segment working together to study every facet of the cycling economy, both as a whole and in its individual parts, which is now one of the most authoritative of its kind in europe and is partnering with the dutch embassy. Bikenomics is a puzzle that, once complete, offers us an extraordinary view of the economy of the future. To the billions saved on health care we can add the benefits of reduced stress, of the adventures of bicycle tourism - which enables us to enjoy the unexpressed richness and beauty of the italian outdoors - of employment for young people, of technological innovation at the service of increasingly smart mobility, of new infrastructures, and of quality of life and of free time. Artisans and shopkeepers will once again be the soul of marvelous italian villages that, once abandoned, will again be populated by young people with the help of bicycle tourism, a market worth more than €40 billion in the eu, but just €3–4 billion in italy. But this is a gap to be closed quickly, especially as we seek to start again after the pandemic.
Bikenomics is a puzzle that, once complete, offers us an extraordinary view of the economy of the future.
