So why was Copenhagen so great?

 

Hey All!

Everywhere I go, people tell me, “Oh I’m not a cyclist. I just commute to work or ride for transportation.” That’s the thing, biking isn’t popular here. Instead, people ride because it’s easy, or cheap, or convenient, or fast. On surveys, only 7% of people report that they bike to protect the environment. This desire just doesn’t get people out of their cars and onto active transportation. Today, we went to visit Copenhagenize, a firm that specializes in urban design and planning. Our guide, James, said he cycles about 40 miles a week. It’s just the easiest option for him to get to work and around town. 

While Copenhagen is undoubtedly a city of bikes, it’s easy to drive here too. It’s very clear where cyclists and cars should be on the road. To make biking safer and more comfortable, cars are redirected onto larger roads. Meanwhile, bicyclists take the most direct route, making it the fastest way to navigate through the city. Additionally, cyclists are always able to go right up to the building and park their bike out front, where cars have to hunt for parking (there are spaces for handicapped though). 

For a millennia, streets were where people came together, they gossiped and traded. Streets were where children played and teens flirted. Streets are our assets, and there is so much potential in them. When cars came along they became a killing ground, and they still are. To “solve” this issue, engineers decided to focus on capacity and transporting people as fast as possible down streets, elevating the car. 

This caused cities to became increasingly separated and annoyingly complicated to travel through by other modalities. As a stroke of luck, and when Copenhagen was broke, planners decided to focus on transporting as many people as possible through the streets. They prioritized walking and biking, especially after these modalities had been ignored or downright discouraged for decades. 

Today, Copenhagen has fantastic bike infrastructure that makes traversing the city a downright delight. There are elevated cycle tracks on almost every street, with little curb cuts to get onto them. As one bikes into residential neighborhoods they pass through physical barriers that blocks vehicles, such as cement garden beds or bollards. This modality filter forces cars to stay on the larger roads until they get to their destination. It makes side streets so much quieter and easier to navigate. There are other versions of traffic calming too, such as restrictions on private vehicles, or making cars weave around objects. In this far north country, there is an emphasis on good lighting, so the network is good at any time of day. All intersections are narrowed, forcing users to slow down. Another way that they’ve made intersections safer is by allowing bikes to pull up ahead of cars, so that they are visible. This makes intersection 50% safer. Cyclists also get a green first, to get them out of cars blind spots. In areas of heightened vulnerability, planners add paint to the road to focus drivers attention.

For pedestrians, the sidewalk always continues at same grade through intersections, forcing cars to be aware of how they enter the pedestrian areas at intersections. On larger streets, there are also pedestrian islands so you only have to look one way at a time and don’t have to worry about not making it across. 

Copenhagen is really conscious to design the streets for all ages and all abilities. At a cafe, I sat and talked with Clyde, a 70 year old man. He finds it easy to bike around the city, riding on his three wheeled cargo bike which provides more stability (he let me ride it!). I think part of what makes Copenhagen feel so safe is seeing so many others out and about, it feels like if you needed something, someone would be there to help you.

This was one of only places I’ve ever seen bicycle traffic. Sometimes I’ll be out and get overwhelmed by how many cyclists there are. During a 45 second light at rush hour, 100 bicycles will make it through an intersection, compared to about 6 cars. Queen Louisa’s bridge has 48,400 bicyclist pass over it PER DAY. By comparison, the big international bridge to Sweden only carries 20,000 cars a day. When construction happens, they prioritize keeping the bike paths open and in the winter the bike lanes are plowed first. 75% of people continue to cycle through winter. And out of all trips in Copenhagen, 60% are taken by bike! This is because biking is just as predictable and stable as driving. 

Yet, planners still experience resistance to new projects (no one likes change). And also backlash to taking away parking. Communicating how the changes will make the quality of life better for residents helps to drive projects forward. Another part of their success is their willingness to run tests in pilot programs. They’ll collect data before and after any changes to see the exact metrics of how things changed. This data then gets taken into consideration when designing other projects and becomes part of the recommendations given to politicians. 

    Many of my peers feel that this would be *challenging* to bring home, that we could never see this in America. It’s hard not to feel that way. But I keep thinking, Copenhagen was a huge car city a few decades ago, yet they chose to prioritize biking over driving. And now they are the bike capital of the world.

Alright, off the infrastructure train and holy holy holy smokes. I just spent three hours talking to some locals at a neighborhood cafe. While the people in Denmark are more reserved than in United States, they are so so kind. The cafe owner, Jamal, came and sat with me while business was slow. We talked about politics, the war, his two kids, and how it was to be an immigrant in the city. He asked me about the states and my perspective as an American. I’ve been interested in having a conversation with an immigrant to see what their perspective of living in Denmark was. Even though Jamal was born in Denmark and has a Danish passport, he feels like an outsider here. 

Traveling forces you to rely on the kindness of strangers in a really beautiful way. People help me with directions, how to open doors, getting my luggage up to high places (really why is everyone here SO tall) and so many more little things without expecting anything in return. I’m so grateful for this reminder of just how lovely people will be if you let them. I miss you all! Sending so much love!