The COVID-19 pandemic that erupted in early 2020 has affected the everyday life, the practices, and the perceptions of the global population significantly. The aim of this paper is to investigate the perceptions, experiences, and practices of the active population regarding everyday urban life (working conditions, mobility, urban space, etc.) in the context of the first wave of the pandemic, by focusing on people who live and work in Greek cities. The data were collected using a structured questionnaire addressed to an active population. The majority of respondents declared that their personal and family lives were affected by the lockdown, with significant effects on their professional life and economic activities. Stress and fear were two feelings that increased. As far as mobility was concerned, the majority of respondents were unwilling to change their commuting practices. Although most of our findings presented a homogenous distribution in our sample, some changes in perceptions, experiences, and practices were correlated with the gender, age, and family status of the respondents. The results of the analysis provide useful information to policy makers and show that it is necessary to radically rethink aspects of urban space and urban mobility, in relation to the multiple problems and dynamics of the active population.

The scope of this paper is to make a review of the good practices of active mobility measures implemented by big European cities to face the changing travel patterns and the social distancing requirement due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Active mobility good practices were gathered by 50 postgraduate students and they were categorized by the authors. 50 European cities were reported, of which four (4) were examined further as the most reported ones. These were the following: Paris, France; Milan, Italy; Brussels, Belgium; and Berlin, Germany. This does not mean that these cities are the best performing in active mobility, as there could be cities that already had adequate active mobility performance, and other factors interfere, such as the brand name of each city. The most reported good practice was the temporary pop-up bicycle lanes, also applied in Thessaloniki, Greece. Another good practice is the expansion of pedestrianization and the speed limit of 30 km/h. Athens, Thessaloniki, and other Greek cities have a lot to learn from the experience of the other European cities, and this paper is an attempt of knowledge transfer. It seems that the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic has become an excellent opportunity for the promotion of active mobility in Europe that should not be left unexploited.

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