Set in the sustainable urban development context, the purpose of this work is to depict cycling as a powerful mean to improve social, environmental and economic conditions in our cities. Moving from a qualitative analysis, the work has been conducted by analyzing a series of initiatives that take place in Malmö (Sweden) aimed at raising cycling awareness and practices. The city serves as a model for discussing sustainable development in general.The results show that, even when practicing good cycling policies, public authorities need to adopt broader and more inclusive approaches in order to avoid inconsistencies and divergences. In the diversity of urban cycling dynamics, learning processes and social innovation thrive: if on one hand they help to fill gaps left by public policies, helping to overcome hindrances in cycling promotion, on the other they also set the possibility for a progress in economic and social urban life.