Zoran Bukvić is one of Serbia’s leading cycling advocates and a long-standing campaigner for safer, more liveable streets. As a representative of the Streets for Cyclists initiative, he has worked for years to promote cycling as an everyday mode of transport and to influence local and national transport policies. In this interview, he reflects on the progress of cycling infrastructure in Serbia and the Western Balkans, discusses the political and cultural barriers that still limit active mobility, and explains why creating people-friendly streets is essential for healthier, more sustainable cities.
Building a cycling movement in Serbia
What inspired you personally to become involved in cycling advocacy, and after all these years, what continues to motivate you to keep working for more people-friendly streets? I have always been an activist at heart, and cycling is something I have been doing for a while, also as a means of transport. I connected the two :). What motivates me is when I see there is a space for improvement, but also the challenge to see through the obstacles in that way and to manage to overcome those obstacles.
Streets for Cyclists has become one of Serbia’s best-known cycling advocacy organizations. What are your main priorities today, and what projects are you most proud of? On the local level, this year we have successfully managed to implement norms and standards for bicycle parking in new and reconstructed buildings, together with the local municipality, which is a great success for our community. On the national level, what is on the way is the future change of the Road Traffic Act, where we have strong hopes that lateral distance when overtaking and cycling streets will become part of this law.
From your perspective, how has cycling culture in Serbia changed over the past decade? Have you noticed a shift in public attitudes toward walking and cycling as everyday modes of transport? For sure there is a change, but for example Belgrade is a big and vivid city, and car-centric culture is very strong. Unfortunately, political options are balancing more towards a loud car minority and flawless car traffic. In other parts of Serbia, like in Novi Sad, there has been significant change and cycling traffic has almost doubled, and cycling culture has flourished, with local decision makers taking it as a serious matter.
Cycling infrastructure in the Western Balkans: progress and challenges
Belgrade continues to grow rapidly while facing congestion, air pollution, and limited public space. What do you see as the three biggest obstacles preventing the city from becoming more bicycle-friendly? There are several problems, such as hilly terrain in maybe 60% of the city’s surface, lack of cycling infrastructure, and strong and unchallenged growing car culture. This creates a vicious circle of loud car drivers-populistic politicians who grant their wishes – and city administration that delivers them, despite the scientific evidence that it will lead to more congestion. Although the situation is different in reality, and only maybe 27% of trips are made by car, their voice prevails. Belgrade has a strong public transport culture, and it is the only city in Europe above 1 million people with totaly fare free PT, but still cars are winning the battle. I am mentioning PT because I think that the battle for cycling-friendly Belgrade must be fought with joined forces of pedestrians, PT users, and all vulnerable users of streets, and not only cyclists, who represent even less than 1% of daily trips and can not win this battle alone.
Looking beyond Serbia, how would you assess the current state of cycling infrastructure and active mobility across the Western Balkans? Which countries or cities are making the most encouraging progress, and where are the biggest gaps? I would say that the best examples of progress are in Vojvodina, the northern part of Serbia. In the other countries, if we do not count Slovenia and Croatia, good examples could be Skopje (North Macedonia), Tirana, and especially Shkodra in Albania, which has a strong cycling culture. The biggest gap would be Podgorica (Montenegro), with perfect conditions for cycling, opposed to a strong car-centric culture. Fortunately, our colleagues in Montenegro Biciklio.me are doing a good job down there.
Many experts describe cycling as one of the highest-return investments in urban mobility. Based on your experience, what evidence have you seen that investing in cycling improves not only transport, but also public health, local economies, and the quality of urban life? In the case of Belgrade, it is very high usage of infrastructure near rivers for recreation, which generates bike-rental shops along the river corridors, and cyclist also visit restaurants and cafes along the route. About the health benefits of cycling, it is sufficient to speak. In Novi Sad and towns all over Vojvodina, with modal shares from 10 % up to 30% of daily trips, cycling contributes to reducing traffic congestion, and lots of customers are cyclists, which is important for local economies. Of course, not to forget cycling tourism along EuroVelo routes, which is getting more significance.
The road to 2035: a vision for active mobility
If municipal leaders across the Balkans could implement just one measure over the next five years to encourage cycling and walking, what would you recommend, and why would it have the greatest impact? Difficult question. All search engines and AI would tell you the same: segregated bicycle infrastructure. But my opinion is that if you do it where there is possible to do it, but there is no need for cyclists to go to those areas, it will not work. It has to adhere to five principles we all know (directness is first), and we also know that space in the urban city cores is scarce, especially on the streets. So, it also means that you have to prepare citizens and nudge them to change their behaviour, which is as difficult as convincing them that bike paths are the solution to traffic problems. If you do bicycle infrastructure without proper communication, you will for sure face backlash from drivers.
Looking ahead to 2035, what would success look like for active mobility in Serbia? What changes would convince you that Serbian cities are moving in the right direction? Hardware is not the problem, but software, or behaviour change from the car-centric Balkan cult (if you do not have a car, you are not a man of the house) to the citizen who uses cars rationally, in combination with walking, cycling and public transport. That first means political change, which then leads towards a city campaign to change the behaviour of the citizens. Then hardware (infrastructure, bicycle streets, counterflow cycling, bike boxes) will be easy to implement. We will know that we are going in the right direction when we see Western Balkan politicians using bicycles, walking, and using public transport (railway, trams, buses).
Read more articles about urban cycling and active mobility here and here.
