site.btaSofia Ranks Last in Europe in Safe Street Conditions for Children

Sofia is the most dangerous place for children and adolescents to move around in an urban environment in Europe, according to a new international study by Clean Cities. The capital of Bulgaria occupies the last, 36th place in the ranking of selected large cities on the continent, and its overall score is extremely modest, about 27 times below the average for the settlements participating in the analysis and more than 3 times lower than even the penultimate one in the ranking, the environmental organization Za Zemiata [For Earth] said on Wednesday.

The study, called "Streets for Kids, Cities for All", was prepared by the Clean Cities Campaign network, which includes over 120 organizations from 20 countries. The network's partner for Bulgaria is Za Zemiata.

The ranking assesses cities on three main indicators, which are defined as key measures by the European Road Safety Observatory of the EU and are in line with UNICEF recommendations: the creation of “school streets”, i.e. streets around schools where car traffic is restricted; streets with safe speed limits (30 km/h or less); availability of protected cycling infrastructure.

These measures can be implemented mainly at the local level and have proven their effectiveness: school streets improve road safety and air quality and can increase the number of children who walk or cycle in their daily journeys. The expansion of 30 km/h zones and the construction of physically separated cycling infrastructure significantly reduce road accidents and noise pollution from vehicles, encouraging active mobility, especially among children.

"For Sofia, as well as for other large Bulgarian cities, such as Plovdiv and Varna, these recommendations are completely adequate and applicable. The issue lies in the lack of political will and leadership," pointed out Dragomira Raeva from Za Zemiata.