irishboyinlondon

Great idea! We have something similar here in London too, the bicycle library (albeit smaller and less publicised)! Places like this help in a soft, informal way to market cycling as a convenient, reliable and cheap way to get around!

publicdesignfestival:

Bicycle Innovation Lab is the first cultural centre in Denmark for and about cycling, born with the objective of rising the awareness of the Danish cycling culture. Since its opening last November it has been organizing speeches, lectures, events, guided tours and exhibitions, focusing on the themes of bike and bicycle traffic. Moreover it has a well-stocked bicycle library, where people can borrow new experimental types of bikes and can create their own prototypes during specific workshops held by experts.

01/25/12

Cool! An original new towns promotional film! Really worth a watch! Interesting too that they choose to give the man living the dream a bicycle (and separate infrastructure)!

via: futurecitylab:

“Many of us who write about cities like to share rediscovered videos from times gone by. The videos are especially notable when ideas with currency today are discussed in other contexts, providing opportunities to compare, contrast and sometimes be humbled by history.

Here is a prescient video from 1948, about “Charlie.” This cartoon protagonist champions the basics of the new town movement in post-war Great Britain, a Garden City-inspired effort to alleviate housing shortages. The initial phases of the movement brought towns such as Stevenage, Crawley, Hemel-Hempstead, Harlow, Hatfield and Basildon (see Osborn and Whittick’s classic The New Towns (1963) for the full story).

An interesting tidbit: as the video explains, the “neighborhood centre” was a key premise of the British new towns. It was based on the guiding principles of the Reith Report as implemented through the New Towns Act of 1946. Similar to then-contemporary American “neighborhood unit” principles, a new towns commonly featured structured neighborhoods of 5,000 to 10,000 inhabitants with at least one elementary school, local shops, a park and a public house.”

via the atlantic :cities

01/24/12

Gehl Architects on the proposed introduction of congestion charging for Copenhagen: If the Betalingsring is the answer, then what was the question again?

Picture: Gehl Architects - Ways to add quality to the design of town centres

The problems that the Betalingsring is trying to solve originate not in our city centre but in our suburbs, we need to improve the quality of the town centers that comprise Copenhagen metropolitan region ensuring they are walkable, bike-able and provide everyday amenities. We need to improve connections and accessibility between these town centers and into the centre of Copenhagen. We need broad investment in a variety of transit options from car-sharing to public transit to ensure high quality alternatives and most importantly we need to consider the suburbs and promote medium density and quality housing. We want a city that works in the center and at the edges…

.…We aim to shift the discussion from mere political grandstanding to what ought to be the key question; how do we achieve good quality of life for all Copenhageners, a question which we all need to take seriously and responsibility for achieving. Improving quality of life and making a better city for our shared future is about more than charging motorists to drive into the centre. It should be visionary, ambitious and holistic in approach…

….Just as we have made our city centre walkable, bike-able and attractive – this should be applied more widely creating towns that provide everyday amenities. In our experience with working in transit hubs in both Gothenburg and Skåne, improving the quality within 1km of the transit hubs including park and ride schemes, reliable wifi connections that support working while commuting and other initiatives that improve convenience can greatly increase the attractiveness of public transport and really affect people’s transit choices.

01/24/12

Great video! Local people leading change and regeneration in their city!

thisbigcity:

“The POPUPHOOD is a new urban initiative and small business incubator revitalizing Oakland, block by block”

「POPUPHOOD是個新的都會計畫與小企業育成中心，希望一步步振興美國加州奧克蘭。」

01/21/12

PRESTO – “Promoting Cycling for Everyone as a Daily Transport Mode”

A nice guide from PRESTO that focuses on developing and nurturing cycling cultures in cities. The guide is informed by lessons learned from their own work promoting cycling in 5 differenct cities with varying levels of cycling culture.

The starter city section is relevant to London!

One of the reports key recommendations for starter cities looking to improve local cycling levels is unsurprisingly the provision of adequate and credible infrastructure which is the best possible promotion for cycling.

This document is the final report of the European PRESTO cycling project, summarising its main achievements and recommendations from 33 months of experience and practical knowledge in building cycling cultures in five European cities…with different cycling conditions, modal splits, starting situations and local challenges…

This document sums up our main recommendations for different aspects of cycling infrastructure, cycling promotion and pedelecs, structured by “starter”, “climber” and “champion” cycling cities. It is intended for local and regional authorities across Europe, bicycle retailers, European institutions and NGOs, or anyone who is working on building a cycling culture…

PRESTO activities ran from May 2009 to January 2012 and focussed on the three pillars:

• improved infrastructure planning

• targeted promotion to encourage the use of bicycles

• pedelecs

The five PRESTO cities – with their varying levels of cycling – are Bremen, Germany; Grenoble, France; Tczew, Poland; Venice, Italy; and Zagreb, Croatia. Together, they provided an ideal testing ground for some creative measures for “starter”, “climber” and “champion” cycling cities and enabled us to learn some lessons which we can now share with you…

01/19/12

Another example of shipping container reuse following from my earlier post. Wallpaper Mag also have another one nice one here!

simplypi:

Freitag Messenger Bags Zurich Store

01/19/12

Kaid Benfield: More walkable urban development is good. But is it good enough?

Nice read!

01/18/12

Making Cycling Irresistible: Lessons from The Netherlands, Denmark and German

The key to achieving high levels of cycling appears to be the provision of separate cycling facilities along heavily travelled roads and at intersections, combined with traffic calming of most residential neighbourhoods. Extensive cycling rights of way in the Netherlands,Denmark and Germany are complemented by ample bike parking, full integration with public transport, comprehensive traffic education and training of both cyclists and motorists, and a wide range of promotional events intended to generate enthusiasm and wide public support for cycling. In addition to their many pro-bike policies and programmes, the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany make driving expensive as well as inconvenient in central cities through a host of taxes and restrictions on car ownership, use and parking. Moreover, strict land-use policies foster compact, mixed-use developments that generate shorter and thus more bikeable trips. It is the coordinated implementation of this multifaceted, mutually reinforcing set of policies that best explains the success of these three countries in promoting cycling.

01/18/12

Cool! Cycle bus it to school!

Some lucky Dutch schoolchildren can now put their seemingly endless energy to good use, by powering their own school bus. Dutch company De Café Racer produced an eco-friendly bicycle-bus that is steered by an adult and pedaled by up to 10 children.

The bright yellow bus is designed for riders aged 4 to 12, and its stability and high visibility provide a safe, early introduction to cycle commuting in a country where bicycling is a way of life and 95 percent of teenagers bike to school at least some of the time.

The bus has a base speed of 10 miles per hour, and a motor for backup if the students are too tired to pedal or need help with hills. Other features include a music player and a canvas cover for shelter on rainy days. There’s even a bench seat where two additional children can sit back and enjoy the ride. —Kate Malongowski

Photo: Kate Malongowski/ Yes!

01/18/12

TechCrunch: A City Is A Startup: The Rise Of The Mayor-Entrepreneur

An interesting piece comparing successful cities to start up businesses

On stage at last month’s Le Web conferenceShervin Pishevar, a Managing Director at Menlo Ventures, stated “The World is a Startup.” It’s an interesting perspective, and I think what’s true for the world is also true for countries, states and municipalities. With developments like last month’sannouncement that Cornell was selected to build a new tech campus in New York City, it seems to follow that if “a city is a startup,” then the best mayors are the ones who are looking at their cities in much the same way as entrepreneurs look at the companies they have founded.

The ingredients for a successful startup and a successful city are remarkably similar. You need to build stuff that people want. You need to attract quality talent. You have to have enough capital to get your fledgling ideas to a point of sustainability. And you need to create a world-class culture that not only attracts the best possible people, but encourages them to stick around even when things aren’t going so great.

01/17/12

Rush hour traffic, Utrecht, Netherlands

01/15/12

These guys are pretty cool! Check out their chaise-chaise and vélib en correspondance too!

urbanbricolage:

A simple rubber band can make it easier to share newspapers and magazines in the metro…

Great job by Fabrique - Hacktion !

01/10/12

Photo:Lars Gemzøe, Gehl Architects

A cool outdoor exercise area and cycle paths in the Haraldsgade area of Copenhagen.

01/9/12

This is a great idea! Imagine a festival in London that facilitated up close access to monuments like the Albert Memorial or Nelson’s Column?

publicdesignfestival:

To make art more accessible. Literally. This is the objective of Pat the Horse’s project by GORA art&landscape, carried out in the Swedish cities of Malmö (2007) and Helsingborg (2011)

© GORA art&landscape - All rights reserved

01/6/12

Cool inspiring video by the City of Portland. Taking inspiration from some of the best cities in the world, Portland is delivering road space that can be safely used by all road users.

Listen up @MayorOfLondon…Portland is getting bikes and cars where they need to go safely and efficiently!

plantedcity:

Bikes in the City: ‘On the Right Track’

From Vimeo:

Catherine Ciarlo, Transportation Policy Director in the Office of Mayor Sam Adams in Portland, Oregon, explains how cycle tracks and buffered bike lanes work.

01/6/12