Chris and Melissa Bruntlett are influential urban mobility advocates and practitioners based in the Netherlands.
They have now written three books together.
The first, ‘Building the Cycling City: The Dutch blueprint for urban vitality’, was inspired by their first trip to the Netherlands in 2016 after a decade of bicycle advocacy in Vancouver.
The second was written following two years in living in beautiful Delft. It is called ‘Curbing traffic: The human case for fewer cars in our lives’.
The Bruntletts then took a rest from writing and focused on consultancy work, travelling to dozens of cities across the globe to help leaders transform streets.
And they noticed something significant.
From New York to Paris, Bogota to Montreal and Barcelona to Tirana, it was women who were leading the way to making healthier, happier cities.
Only 25 of the world’s 300 largest cities have female mayors. A tiny 5% of municipal leadership positions are filled by women. Despite these low figures, many of the cities that are making the most progress to become greener, cleaner, more equitable and more liveable are run by women.
And so the Bruntletts decided it was time to write another book to profile this important work. ‘Women Changing Cities: Global Stories of Urban Transformation’ was published in October 2025.
11 cities are featured – and Sydney is one of them!
Sydney’s first popularly elected female mayor, Lord Mayor Clover Moore, is now serving a record sixth term leading the City of Sydney.
The Lord Mayor didn’t plan for a life in politics and trained as a teacher. However, moving to crumbling 1970s Redfern with two young children sparked a passion for community activism that soon led to elected office.
The work of the last 20 years has focused sharply on climate resilience, driving a transformation of the urban fabric from grey and car-dominated to green and walkable. Sydney has become a much more sustainable and liveable city.
The pedestrianisation of George Street was a flagship project but public realm improvements are tangible in every corner of the City. Playgrounds, pocket parks, wide footpaths, outdoor dining and thousands of trees have made a huge difference to urban amenity.
Moore’s legacy includes over 250 community, recreational, educational and cultural buildings, mostly designed by the very best architects. Chasing 'design excellence' has been central to her mission.
And of course, there is the fast-growing network of safe and connected cycleways.
Lord Mayor Clover Moore celebrates the opening of the Oxford Street West Cycleway in August 2025 (Image: Nick Langley/City of Sydney)
An ecosystem of women changemakers
The Lord Mayor has not achieved all this alone. She has steered a team of impactful staff - and 42% are women. She told the Bruntletts “I wanted the City of Sydney to be an organisation that attracted, supported and retained talented women.”
One of these is Fiona Campbell, who has been Manager of Cycling Strategy since 2008.
Fiona has also followed an unusual path into public service. For 10 years, she was an impassioned advocate for better cycling in the Inner West. This voluntary work was taking 20-40 hours a week and the corporate job in computer programming began to get in the way!
When advocates persuaded the City of Sydney to hire a bike planner, Fiona applied for the job, despite having no relevant qualifications or government experience. She turned out to be perfect for the role.
Fiona Campbell (right) with colleague Freya Grove and Roxanne De Burgh, CEO of UK cycling charity Camcycle, on Ngamuru Avenue in Green Square during a tour of Sydney best cycleways (Image: Bicycle NSW)
With a lot of tenacity and hard work, a well-resourced and talented team, and tireless political support from Lord Mayor Clover Moore, Fiona has led the transformation of cycling in central Sydney.
Rated as the worst city in Australia for bike riding 15 year ago, ‘the city that hates bikes’, Sydney is now the best.
The first major project was the Bourke Street Cycleway, completed in 2011 in the face of fierce opposition. But it was worth the battle against ‘bikelash’.
Bourke Street demonstrated the value of investing in separated infrastructure that can be used by people of all ages, from 8 to 80. Not only do 25% of local school kids now cycle to school. The street is calm, quiet, green and leafy, and much loved by residents who don’t miss the polluted traffic sewer of the past.
Kent, King, College and Union streets followed quickly but then progress slowed for several years as the NSW Government deprioritised active transport.
The Covid-19 pandemic provided a boost when Transport for NSW collaborated with the City to Sydney to install several pop-up lanes to help essential workers get around safely. These lanes made some really key connections and encouraged a lot of new riders. Most have been made permanent.
The City of Sydney has committed to invest $105 million in cycleways over the next 10 years, allowing Fiona’s team to steadily develop the network set out in the 2018-2030 Cycling strategy and action plan.
Bikes make better cities
Separated cycleways roll out a ‘green carpet’ and invite people to ride. A new generation of Sydneysiders now feels safe enough to take to two wheels.
More than 40,000 residents cycle in the City each week, and there has been an increase of 187% since counts began in 2010. Explore the data in our article Tracking the rise of cycling in Sydney.
However, Fiona is always clear that building cycleways is not only about cycling.
The bike just happens to be the very best tool for improving a city and helping it become quieter, greener and more liveable.
Fiona told the Bruntletts “I love serving the community and problem solving. I want to make Sydney better for bikes because that makes it better for everyone.”
City of Sydney’s Manager of Cycling Strategy, Fiona Campbell, rides behind Lord Mayor Clover Moore on the Liverpool Street Cycleway (Image: Jamie Williams / City of Sydney)
Fiona is a bit of a legend in the bike world. She features in the Zag Daily 2025 list of Mobility Changemakers.
In 2023, she was awarded the Committee for Sydney’s prestigious Unsung Hero award in recognition of her work. Watch this video to hear Fiona talking about her mission for Sydney.
And then settle in for this longer 2022 interview with Phil Latz from the Micromobility Report, discussing Fiona’s career and achievements.
And there is something else to celebrate!
The City of Sydney’s successful cycleways have inspired councils across the country to develop cycling infrastructure and better streets.
Road space has been reallocated from cars to bikes in Randwick, Waverley, Inner West, Wollongong, Newcastle, North Sydney, Parramatta, Strathfield, Liverpool and Sutherland. Plans are underway in many more areas in NSW.
Residents have seen what good cycling infrastructure looks like and increasingly support bold changes to their streets.
Maybe one day all Australians will have safe, equitable, affordable, low-carbon, healthy and fun ways to get around!
16 more changemakers in 10 cities feature in the book
And the stories are very inspiring.
Some of the showcased cities are well known for successful transformations:
In Montreal, Mayor Valerie Plante developed the Réseau Express Vélo (REV) – or express cycling network - with 17, high-capacity routes that are comfortable for fast, long-distance trips cross the city. Every summer, 11 major city streets are completely closed to cars, creating an incredible 9.4km demonstration of how a city can be livelier quieter and more liveable.
Under Mayor Ada Colau in Barcelona, a team of female city leaders reclaimed a million square metres of space for pedestrians using modal filters to create low-traffic Superillas or Superblocks with impromptu plazas at the intersections.
In Paris, Mayor Anne Hidalgo has converted a riverside expressway into public space, and removed cars from the streets in front of over 200 schools.
Brussels’ mobility minister Elke van den Brandt stood up to death threats to push through huge changes to the city’s traffic circulation to allow swathes of space to be reclaimed for public life.
There are less familiar cities in the book, including several from the global south:
An activist in Manila, Keisha Mayuga, is credited with sparking explosion in cycling in the Philippines. This started with a bike-lending program and a pop-up cycleway during the Covid-19 pandemic and led to 1,500km of bike lanes across the country.
Former Bogotá Mayor Claudia López created economic opportunities for the city’s women through the creation of community assets called ‘Care Blocks’.
In Tirana, Deputy Mayor Anuela Ristani uses a child-friendly lens to plan a chaotic city, investing in public playgrounds, school streets and traffic gardens.
In Delhi, collaborative data sharing has empowered women to find safe spaces to meet, exercise, socialise and travel.
Professor of Urban Planning Amanda Ngabirano experienced the freedom of cycling, and its benefits for urban liveability, while studying in the Netherlands. She has since initiated transformative cycling projects in Kampala.
Five themes run through these stories
The Bruntletts conclude that female changemakers share a common approach to their roles as advocates, decision makers, thought leaders and politicians:
- A foundation of empathy
- Planning for the long-term
- Valuing the role of care
- Building coalitions
- And, very importantly, a desire for impact, not power.
“Cities designed for and by women take a more intersectional approach to improving conditions for everyone - regardless of their age, gender identity, ability, race or economic means,” they write.
“Emphasising potential over problems, while encouraging everyone to roll up their sleeves…, is the only way to reach a better future together.”
Chris and Melissa Bruntlett in Delft with a copy of their latest book (Image: Chris and Melissa Bruntlett on Facebook)
You can buy a copy of ‘Women Changing Cities’ via Routledge Australia.
Follow the Bruntletts on social media for regular inspiration from many more cycling cities.
You will also support our advocacy to make NSW better for bike riding, and benefit from best personal accident and public liability insurance available to recreational riders in NSW.
