Livable Copenhagen: the Design of a Bicycle City
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Livable Copenhagen: The Design of a Bicycle City Alyse Nelson Center for Public Space Research, Copenhagen Valle Scholar University of Washington, Seattle table of contents table of contents acknowledgments 3 introduction 4 making the case for a bicycle city 6 urban planning in copenhagen 10 bicycle planning 1 copenhagen’s cycle policy 14 cycle goals and policy evaluation 16 city bikes 0 cycle route design principles 1 typology of streets in the inner city 22 typology of intersections in the inner city 3 case: holmens kanal 40 case: strædet 4 case: fredriksborggade 44 case: store kongensgade 46 case: torvegade 48 case: nørrebro green route 50 conclusions: learning from copenhagen 5 works cited 58 about the author 59 Map on the left from City of Copenhagen’s Traffic Environmental Plan, 2004 Livable Copenhagen: The Design of a Bicycle City acknowledgments the meetings and conversations, I would have been lost to craft the document that I wanted within five months. And here it is! The staff at the Center for Public Space R e s e a r c h at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen for providing me with a Danish home from which I could research and for countless conversations, meetings, and feedback. L a r s G e m z øe for his information and advice, and for going above and beyond to provide me guidance as I finished this project. My life-long friend and mother, K a r e n Fa r r i s , who In Copenhagen, it is typical to park bicycles outside of your not only has spent many hours as my proofreading home instead of a car. assistant on this project, but has also managed all of This document would not be possible my United States affairs during my time abroad, not without the help of these people: a small task. However, her time spent helping me First and foremost, my partner in crime, J a s o n during the past five months cannot compare with all N e l s o n deserves more than just a mention here. she has done for me over my lifetime. He has ventured out on the streets of Copenhagen, risking life and limb measuring travel lanes and My thesis advisor, R o n K a s p r i s i n , who has not shunning Danes with angry stares to get “the” directly influenced this project, but has inspired me to picture. I only hope that I someday can repay him continue to practice expressing my ideas visually. during his journey through architecture school! Finally, I would like to thank my son, Or i e n N e l s o n , The Valle Scholarship and Scandinavian who may only be nearing two, but has changed my E x c h a n ge P r o g r a m made my five months life in more ways than any other person on this abroad possible, and for that I am forever grateful. Earth. I thank him for being a good sport through the past five months, reminding us to put on his R o b A d a m s , guest professor with the Center for Mobility on three wheels: A young mom transports her “helmet” before going out on our bikes, and helping child in the popular Christiana bicycle. People do not only Public Space Research and the Director of Design me really understand the job of planners - to make use these front carriers for transporting their children, but and Culture for the City of Melbourne, Australia, for accessible, livable, beautiful, sustainable cities for also for hauling musical instruments, furniture, and other advising me during my Copenhagen stay. Without him, his children, and his grandchildren. bulky items. Postal workers use cycles such as these for package delivery. Livable Copenhagen: The Design of a Bicycle City introduction “In Copenhagen, there’s more bike traffic than car traffic the culture of cycling at rush hour. You see people out there looking like my I’ve learned a lot being a short-term resident of mom and grandmas just riding to work or riding errands Copenhagen. For one, you can ride a bike with a around town. It’s clearly a standard and acceptable mode cello on your back. I played cello for years growing of transportation. In Seattle, it’s still unusual if someone up, and one of my preconditions for buying my first rides a bike around the city.” car was that my cello must fit in the trunk. Otherwise, Zach Triesman, quoted in Bock, 2006 how would I transport my bulky instrument? In Copenhagen, I saw two friends riding bikes side-by- side with cellos on their backs. I stand corrected. I find this true about a lot of things. You CAN be a parent and bicycle, as the Christiana-style bicycles full of children with a young (and fit) mom or dad shows. To tell how many children a dad has, just Above, a man struggles to see around a recently purchased look at his calves – as it is a sign of bicycling with armoire along Amagerbrogade. your kids in tow. You CAN transport many items on a bike. As it nears Christmas, I saw a man mode of transport today is thanks to 1980s policies bicycling with a small Christmas tree. I saw a man and planning efforts that were able to once again with an armoire making his way onto a cycle path. foster the everyday use of the bicycle. I’ve seen couples holding hands riding side-by-side, men in business suits, and women in mini skirts and The Danish culture values modesty, doesn’t so much stilettos – even in winter. Children can ride safely on appreciate displays of wealth. Bicycling is seen as their own and with friends – what independence this a modest mode of transport. The Danes have a offers for both parents and kids. word, hygge, which cannot be directly translated to the English language. If one tries, the closest The bicycle is a socially acceptable mode of transport you might get is “cozy”. During an interview, two in Denmark. Many remark that Copenhagen’s success young women declared bicycling to be “hyggelig”, at maintaining such a high percentage of bicycle saying that the ability to feel the weather and traffic in the modal split is thanks to the presence of a see the city evoked feelings of being hygge bicycle culture. I do not wish to deny the importance (Copenahgen, 00). Thus, with the values and A landmark of Copenhagen is the large temperature gauge of social acceptance or a bicycle tradition in creating infrastructure in place, Copenhageners most often that climbs up the above building. It leads to two women, a bicycle city. But there is evidence that the bicycle choose their bicycle for short trips (Copenhagen, one on a bicycle and one with an umbrella, who appear to 005a). Ninety percent of Copenhageners own a show the day’s expected weather conditions. was on its way out in Copenhagen during the 1960s and early 1970s. That the bicycle is still a viable bicycle. In Denmark, the average household owns 0.7 cars and bicycles (Brewer, 001). Fifty-eight 4 Livable Copenhagen: The Design of a Bicycle City percent of Copenhageners use a cycle on a daily Rules of the Road basis (International, 004). • Cyclists are thought of as “soft cars” in Denmark, and must follow the same rules as vehicles Out in the city doing field research, I comfortably • No right turns are allowed on red lights for rode on many streets, but knew that I would not either cars or bicycles want to ride on similar streets in the United States. • Cyclists are permitted to ride two-ways on one- Why, one might ask, would it matter? The critical way streets where signage is posted mass of bicyclists that Copenhagen has means less • Children can cycle on the footpath until the age cars and also more motorists are aware of bicycles of six and look out for them. As Executive Director of • Children over five cannot be a passenger on a Seattle’s Cascade Bicycle Club Chuck Ayers states, bicycle “To change the culture of transportation, you need a • Cycling side-by-side is permitted unless critical mass” (qtd in Bock, 006). To create a critical someone wishes to pass mass in a US city will require providing a bicycling • Mopeds must travel 30 kilometers per hour or environment that is safe, secure, comfortable, and A helmet-clad mother and son make their way through an less on the cycle paths even enjoyable for everyone, including children, older Amagerbrogade intersection. It is not typical for adults to • One hand must be on the handlebars at all adults, and commuters. The goal of this project is to wear helments in Copenhagen. times give the details of the design of Copenhagen’s bicycle • Left turns are allowed only indirectly, by first automobile traffic has increased 16 percent since network so that cities that wish to promote cycling crossing the intersection and then crossing 1995, and although bicycle traffic is still increasing as a mode of transport might learn from it. One part again faster, Copenhagen is at a crossroads (Copenhagen, campaigns and education, one part infrastructure • Cyclists must use hand signals to indicate 005a). Will the city once again succumb to the – who knows? Perhaps even United States cities turns automobile in policies and planning, or will it hold its will find an emergent culture of bicycling all of their • At areas with a separate bus island, bus patrons ground and fight for the bicycle? own.