Kairouan, capital of the governorate with the same name, is a city at the center of Tunisia, located at 150 kilometers to the south-west of Tunis. It is an important point of junction between the south and north of the country. It is a spiritual city, and the first holy town in the Maghreb. It possesses a rich architectural heritage – the grand mosque of the city is registered in UNESCO’s world heritage. As such, the city of Kairouan is also the venue of internationally renowned cultural and spiritual events; the Mouled for instance, the celebration of the birthday of the Prophet, gathers each year almost a million visitors from Tunisia and other parts of the Muslim-Arab world.

Hence, the city encounters problems of congestion, linked to the inadequacy of its transportation infrastructure network, which has led to an important use of taxis and cars, also perceived as a mark of social and economic status. Kairouan is endowed with geographic feature favorable to biking, a mode of transportation that had been particularly present before the ascension of individual cars in the 1970s and 1980s, hence deeply engraved in the daily life of the city’s residents. The municipality of Kairouan is particularly engaged in the cause of sustainable development and inclusive governance. It aspires, thanks to the partnership with Strasbourg, to get the bike back to the place it deserves in the city and to become a city model in Tunisia!