Jack Thurston of The Bike Show interviews Mikael Coville-Anderson of Copenhagenize about his blog, the growth of cycling as a way of getting around in Copenhagen and his work with other cities Well worth a listen!
Not sure I share Jack’s views on the principles being difficult to implement in London due to its narrow streets and historical development pattern…Amsterdam and Copenhagen also have many narrow streets where cars and people cycling co-exist beautifully - without sweat, fear and lycra!
A trip to the Danish capital of Copenhagen, city of stylish cyclists, where Jack Thurston meets Mikael Colville-Andersen, the force behind Cycle Chic and Copenhagenize. We talk about how a single street photograph set him on a new path of bicycle advocacy, fashion and city planning consulting. And lots and lots of blogging.
In creating PLACEmaking, we aimed to put together a publication offering food for future thought: the creation of social cities, the use of Big Data for civic benefit, the articulation of economic and social value, and the development of tools and processes that enable everyone to participate in the design and shaping of place.
America is fast becoming a pop-up nation. From sea to shining sea, her cities have been swept up in the frenzy for temporary architecture: Brooklyn vendors sell their wares in artfully arranged shipping containers; Dallas’s Build a Better Block group champions DIY painted bicycle routes and pop-up small businesses; architects in San Francisco are repurposing metered parking spaces into miniature parks; residents in Oakland, California rallied to create an entire pop-up neighborhood. The phenomenon has even climbed its way from grassroots origins to the agendas of local authorities: D.C.’s office of planning sprouted a Temporary Urbanism Initiative, while New York’s transportation commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan is implementing what she calls “Jane Jacobs’s revenge on Robert Moses” with her fast-acting interventions favoring pedestrians and cyclists. The temporary, so it seems, is overtaking the permanent. But how permanent is our current fascination for the temporary?
Creative Placemaking is a resource for mayors, arts organizations, the philanthropic sector, and others interested in understanding strategies for leveraging the arts to help shape and revitalize the physical, social, and economic character of neighborhoods, cities, and towns…
…Creative placemaking is one of the tools that mayors can use to tackle their design challenges, whether it is building artist live/work spaces in abandoned warehouses, designing youth employment programs around mentoring relationships with artists, or curating a performing arts series in urban public places.
Bicycle traffic is healthy, environmentally friendly, and makes cities more livable. Cycling is a fast and efficient urban transport mode and requires less space than motor vehicle traffic.
The Collection of cycle concepts 2012 presents a number of ideas to help generate more bicycle traffic and reduce the accident rate among cyclists.
I love this place. Such a simple idea - a disused rail line turned into a park! It is now so successful that at times they have to close it due to overcrowding! An inspiring example of what communities and city halls can do together! Visit their website here.
The High Line is a public park built on an historic freight rail line elevated above the streets on Manhattan’s West Side. It is owned by the City of New York, and maintained and operated by Friends of the High Line. Founded in 1999 by community residents, Friends of the High Line fought for the High Line’s preservation and transformation at a time when the historic structure was under the threat of demolition. It is now the non-profit conservancy working with the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation to make sure the High Line is maintained as an extraordinary public space for all visitors to enjoy. In addition to overseeing maintenance, operations, and public programming for the park, Friends of the High Line works to raise the essential private funds to support more than 90 percent of the park’s annual operating budget, and to advocate for the preservation and transformation of the High Line at the Rail Yards, the third and final section of the historic structure, which runs between West 30th and West 34th Streets.
The High Line is located on Manhattan’s West Side. It runs from Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District to West 34th Street, between 10th & 11th Avenues. The first section of the High Line opened on June 9, 2009. It runs from Gansevoort Street to West 20th Street. The second section, which runs between West 20th and West 30th Streets, opened June 8, 2011.
A really inspiring video by Mark Wagenbuur illustrating how the city of Utrecht has repaired some of the damage done in the 50s/60s when the city attempted to accommodate the ever increasing levels of car traffic. It has embarked on a programme of works to restore its street quality, narrowing roads to achieve a better modal split, improve the living environment and making a return the original humanscale city.
Mark also writes the excellent BicycleDutch blog which is always a good read!
Jeremy Clarkson, the Top Gear presenter and one of Britain’s most outspoken motorists, has come out in praise of cycling, hailing Copenhagen’s cycling culture as “fan-bleeding-tastic” and comparing it to the streets of London where a state of “undeclared war” exists between cars and bicycles…
…“In Copenhagen, [cycling] is just a pleasant way to get about. Nobody wears a helmet. Nobody wears high-visibility clothing. You just wear what you need to be wearing at your destination.”
He adds: “The upshot is a city that works. It’s pleasing to look at. It’s astonishingly quiet. It’s safe. And no one wastes half their life looking for a parking space. I’d live there in a heartbeat.”
Conversely, Clarkson describes cycling in Britain as a “political statement”, where cyclists need to wear cameras on their helmets to document the motorists who “carve them up”.
In Copenhagen, he explains, most journeys are made by bicycle:
“Now I know that sounds like the ninth circle of hell, but that’s because you live in Britain, where cars and bikes share the road space. This cannot and does not work. It’s like putting a dog and a cat in a cage and expecting them to get along. They won’t, and as a result London is currently hosting an undeclared war. I am constantly irritated by cyclists and I’m sure they’re constantly irritated by me.
“City fathers have to choose. Cars or bicycles. And in Copenhagen they’ve gone for the bike.”
A bicycle-friendly city is a city with more space, less noise, cleaner air, healthier citizens and a better economy. It’s a city that is a nicer place to be in and where individuals have a higher quality of life. Where accessibility is high and there is a short route from thought to action if one wants to head out into nature, participate in cultural or sports activities or buy locally. Bicycle traffic is therefore not a singular goal but rather an effective tool to use when creating a liveable city with space for diversity and development.
Fortunately, it pays off to invest in urban cycling. Increased cycling levels give society less congestion, fewer sick days, longer life expectancy, less wear and tear on the roads and less pollution. Cycling initiatives are also inexpensive compared with other transport investments.
Gent is definitely getting its urban environment right!
Whilst it might be a medieval city with its heritage peeking out everywhere, it has a palpable vibrancy, youthfulness and liveableness that many cities aspire to! It is thankfully far removed from the dull, soaked in aspic lifelessness of its nearby pretty neighbour, Bruges.
The combination of great architecture, dense but human scaled development, elegant public spaces and streets, canals and bridges give it texture, charisma…soul. Even at night the city is pulls out all the stops by implementing an impressive but sensitive urban lighting strategy.
The city is equally impressive when it comes to local mobility. There aren’t many cities in my opinion that gets this right but Gent does. There is a buzzing pedestrian life, healthy levels of cycling, a great tram and bus network and even a place for cars! To see all these modes sensibly sharing the same space was uplifting. It seems to have the same levels of modal respect you see in Amsterdam, Copenhagen or Berlin. Interestingly it had a 30kph (20mph) limit in operation in the immediate city areas.
Economically, the city seemed to be thriving and it has a lower than average unemployment rate.
Gent also has a buzzing nightlife that left me wanting to go back again! Whilst we were there we enjoyed an excellent Turkish grill in the Patershol area and many glasses of Vedette in a jazz club with an outdoor courtyard that was to be found at the bottom of an inauspicious alley!
Since visiting I have unsurprisingly learnt that Gent Municipality has a strong focus on creating a quality urban environment and that the city participated in the aptly named Liveable City project from 2003 to 2006 funded by the European Regional Development Fund.
There is a comprehensive presentation on the city and its mobility and public realm plans that you can peruse here.
Profound changes are occurring on high streets throughout the country. In order for policies aimed at their planning and stewardship to succeed, a greater understanding of how high streets adapt to changing economic conditions and serve their neighbourhoods is needed. Suzanne Hallargues for a multidisciplinary approach in understanding the social and economic particularities of high streets.
Cool resource (if a little confusing) of various urban planning, urban design and architecture case studies! Click on map for a world view.
What is urbaninform?
urbaninform is a web tool that collects architecture and urban design projects for the cities of the future. We believe in participation, social entrepreneurship, green business and good urban government initiatives.urbaninform supports local actors by transfers of knowledge and connects them to a network of experts and entrepreneurs. We support the negotiation of formal and informal actors. And we support the development of new forms of global and local collaboration.
A nice guide from PRESTO that focuseson 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…
