- News
- Reviews
- Bikes
- Accessories
- Accessories - misc
- Computer mounts
- Bags
- Bar ends
- Bike bags & cases
- Bottle cages
- Bottles
- Cameras
- Car racks
- Child seats
- Computers
- Glasses
- GPS units
- Helmets
- Lights - front
- Lights - rear
- Lights - sets
- Locks
- Mirrors
- Mudguards
- Racks
- Pumps & CO2 inflators
- Puncture kits
- Reflectives
- Smart watches
- Stands and racks
- Trailers
- Clothing
- Components
- Bar tape & grips
- Bottom brackets
- Brake & gear cables
- Brake & STI levers
- Brake pads & spares
- Brakes
- Cassettes & freewheels
- Chains
- Chainsets & chainrings
- Derailleurs - front
- Derailleurs - rear
- Forks
- Gear levers & shifters
- Groupsets
- Handlebars & extensions
- Headsets
- Hubs
- Inner tubes
- Pedals
- Quick releases & skewers
- Saddles
- Seatposts
- Stems
- Wheels
- Tyres
- Health, fitness and nutrition
- Tools and workshop
- Miscellaneous
- Buyers Guides
- Features
- Forum
- Recommends
- Podcast
Copenhagen rubbish basketball.pngVideo: Copenhagen shows us the little details that help make it a great cycling city - reminds us we've a long way to go
We all know Copenhagen is a great place for cycling. Indeed barely a week goes by when someone doesn't rub it in our faces a little bit.
Copenhagen recently pipped Amsterdam to the post to be named the best cycling city in the world according to the Copenhagenize index, thanks in part, Copenhagenize says, to the election of Morten Kabell as department for transport mayor.
Ever wonder what they have got that we don't - other than miles of continuous, safe, dedicated bike infrastructure and a legal system that protects the most vulnerable road users? Well, now you can find out, in this video by Gottlieb Paludan Architects - and they say it's the little details, as well as the big ideas, that count.
Thanks to political vision and serious investment in infrastructure not only are bike bridges a standard piece of infrastructure, and growing in number, they've got a lot of smaller details that make cycling as easy as possible for everyone.
The Gottlieb Paludan Architects' video shows us foot rests at bike traffic lights so those on bicycles don't have to leave the saddle. Bike riders can avoid stopping at all where 'green waves', a string of green lights along the bike path, allow them to pace themselves between lights, so they get to the next green light just in time.
Because so many Copenhagen families travel by cargo bike (without fear of intimidation), they even get their own parking spaces on the street.
Bike use in the city increased from 36% to 45% between 2012 and 2014, a modal shift Copenhagenize say has never happened anywhere. The reason, Copenhagenize says, is because biking is made the easiest option, with driving "was rendered incredibly difficult" by the upgrading of heating pipes, laid under the roads, that closed many streets off to motor traffic.
They even have rubbish bins tilted at an angle (pictured) so you can play trash basketball as you cycle. Life really is good when you're Danish.
Laura Laker is a freelance journalist with more than a decade’s experience covering cycling, walking and wheeling (and other means of transport). Beginning her career with road.cc, Laura has also written for national and specialist titles of all stripes. One part of the popular Streets Ahead podcast, she sometimes appears as a talking head on TV and radio, and in real life at conferences and festivals. She is also the author of Potholes and Pavements: a Bumpy Ride on Britain’s National Cycle Network.
Latest Comments
- hawkinspeter 2 sec ago
I've just been up Pilemarsh and there were quite a few cars using it too - I imagine quite a few drivers will get caught out when they start...
- Rendel Harris 5 min 23 sec ago
Schrödinger's mizzle, where whether it is raining or not is dependent upon the observer.
- David9694 22 min 56 sec ago
Going home, running home Down to Gasoline Alley where I started from Going home, and I'm running home Down to Gasoline Alley where I was born
- chrisonabike 34 min 28 sec ago
It's just easier to "negotiate" when both parties are much more similar in vulnerability, manoeuvrability, speed, width, etc. than those in motor...
- chrisonabike 40 min 31 sec ago
Done - caveat that a) the entire width wasn't used for the cycle lane and b) not in the UK....
- OldRidgeback 1 hour 18 min ago
Hmm, not a word about BMX bikes. My sons graduated in turn from the little Raleigh and went onto a BMX with an 18" wheel bought from (the horror)...
- Les Ed 1 hour 30 min ago
I've just read that is someone with 217 points.
- Natrix 1 hour 38 min ago
As reported by Albert Londres in the Parisian newspaper in 1924............
- Shades 2 hours 24 min ago
Feels a bit unfair to refer to the entire B2B cycle path when this only affects the 1/3 of the route closest to Bristol (bandit country); only...
Add new comment
12 comments
Can't help wondering what impact the facts that no cars are manufactured in Denmark and the high import duties on cars (up to 180%!) have on the rates of car ownership, especially amongst the young, and to what extent this influences people's travel choices
I used to work in Denmark a fair bit and speaking to people it's clear that cars are much more expensive to buy than in the UK, but this seemed to translate into buying older cars rather than no car. People seemed to bike because it was easy rather than financially necessary. Students didn't have cars but then most students here don't either, and that doesn't mean that most UK students ride bikes.
What you see in the video that is really missing here is that these are ordinary people, not "cyclists", they are wearing normal clothes, they aren't getting sweaty or 'training', much less after strava KOMs. They're taking the kids to school, picking up some groceries, going to the pub, the cinema, to work, with no hassle or fuss, and everyone is better for it (even those still in their cars).
I've spent some time in Copenhagen, and from a few conversations I got the impression that the car duty isn't that difficult to work around if they want to. It doesn't happen much because people just aren't that interested in cars, and an expensive car might be considered ostentatious which is very un-Danish.
The headline is the wrong way round. Cycling provision makes it a great city for everyone, cyclists and non-cyclist alike.
It's lovely (and as you say a little depressing for us in the UK) to watch these videos.
But, as David Hembrow tirelessly reminds us, you need to do the big stuff right first otherwise these little things are just fluff.
http://www.aviewfromthecyclepath.com/2009/12/truth-about-copenhagen.html
No Lycra, no carbon fiber and no helmets, just Total Cycling.
Still a crap climate though.
No hi-viz! Practically no helmets! How is anyone left alive?
Problem in the UK is that we get the celebratory frippery but not the actual core infrastructure.
They are walking on the moon.
We are just discovering fire.
And every time it rains the fire goes out..
Does Denmark apply these great standards to other cities, such as Aarhus, the way the Netherlands does?