Monday, July 12, 2010

The truth about Copenhagen

'A view from the cycle path' is a blog on cycling from a cyclist's perspective. David Hembrow has been filling his blog for some years and now has analyzed cycling in Copenhagen and comes to some remarkable conclusions: Copenhagen's marketing as "the world's cycling capital" has been very successful so far. Nice branding too. However, real growth in cycling comes not from marketing and branding, nor from taking photos of pretty girls on bikes, but from investment in infrastructure. Unfortunately, the effects of the hype now go beyond the residents of just that one city. London, for instance, seems to think that merely painting its cycle paths "copenhagen blue" will lead to success. It won't. To get a really high rate of cycling you need the proper infrastructure. There is one country in the world which has it. His solution is to Groningenize! Groningen in the North of the Netherlands,  has the highest rate of cycling in the world. Nearly 60% of all journeys are made by bicycle in the city. His advise: Other countries wanting to achieve a significant modal share for bicycles really do have to look beyond Copenhagen. Velo Mondial's hart is obviously also with Amsterdam(ize).