Active Mobility Cities for People

Cities for Mobility Stuttgart June 2

nd
2014
Lars Gemze Architect M.A.A.
Senior Consultant Associate Partner Gehl Architects
Stuttgart
1. New Challenges health, congestion & global warming
2. Many Similarities between Cycling and Walking
3. People on Foot making people visible in planning
4. People Cycling the soft people city
5. People in Transit part of the picture
6. Public Spaces Active mobility and sustainable use of
public space
New Challenges
Health and Obesity



Mobility and Congestion



The Environment and
Global Warming


Active mobility is
good on all three challenges
Walking & Cycling is Healthy
in Daily Life

Walking & Cycling take up
Little Space and give
Mobility for a wider range
of people
Low cost and democratic

Quality of Life and
Sustainable use of Public
Space Less Pollution




Many Similarities in Active Mobility
People walking and cycling can do most of the same things


Cycle Life study Gehl Architects
More flexible than other modes of transport
Stop and talkno need to find a parking lot
Follow your inspiration
Stop and take a closer look - No planning needed

Cycle Life study Gehl Architects
Take a short cut and cross minor barriers
You can always find a way

Cycle Life study Gehl Architects
Many similarities but do not mix it up
There is often a need for different infrastructure
Copenhagen
Cycle Life study Gehl Architects
Walking
Public
transit
Public
space
Access for all
Sustainable use of Public space
The Soft City

Cycling
walking
People on foot

Simple, easy mobility for almost
all people all through life - on
shorter distances
but also the ability to stop, talk.
Meet and do many other things

People used to be invisible in the planning process
No data on pedestrians
same old model, no marketing,
usually no organisations. Low
speed, small size, no pollution, etc
No city department for Public Life

Lots of data on vehicular traffic
Always Traffic Departments with
data about vehicular traffic
constantly new models,
marketing, organisations but also
high speed, noise, pollution, etc.

The City of Copenhagen has a
department for Public Life now
Studies of Public Life in Copenhagen
1968, 1986, 1995 and 2005 ..2010 the city does it!
Pioneering studies by professor Jan Gehl
and the School of Architecture in Copenhagen
From car invasion


From car invasion


....to people places
Strget before 1962
They said it cannot be done
The shops will die!
The climate is wrong!
It is not our culture!

Strget to day
80.000 people per 24 hours in the summer
The shops had a great time!
Pedestrian streets became very popular .even on rainy days
The climate is not a great problem
People stayed longer
People stayed longer and longer
and longer

Almost 4 times more space
= Almost 4 times more activity
We changed culture
The result is a much more
people friendly city
walking cycling
People on bicycles

Active transportation
Cycling is new mobility

A city full of moving objects.....or
A city full of people on the streets
Copenhagen
Bicycling is much more than transport
Individual mobility
for all ages
It is green!
No pollution and no
noise
It is good for
your health too
You see
people in the
street
Everybody
can afford it
It is good for you,
the city and
everybody else
Copenhagen
Bicycling is also city life
Copenhagen
Copenhagen


Why would anyone cycle in the city?
It is of course because
I am poor!
..and you are
just in the way!
It is also
dangerous!
It is too
slow!
and the weather
is also bad of
course!
Here we have
a car culture!
in many countries it is only guys in Tour
de France outfits, that cycle
Australia
or dare-devils who are fighting the cars
Australia
Why do a lot of people cycle in some cities?
CicloVia Lima, Peru
Copenhagen
Let us ask the cyclists
in Copenhagen!


Why do Copenhageners cycle?
Is it because of the environment?

Copenhageners
cycling save over
90.000 t CO
2

annually
1%
Say yes


Copenhagen
Bicycle Account
2006



Is it because of financial reasons?

6%
Say yes


Copenhagen
Bicycle Account
2006



Is it because of the exercise you get?

19%
Say yes


Copenhagen
Bicycle Account
2006



We must simply make it the easy choice
Is it because it is convenient, fast and easy?

61%
Yes!


Copenhagen
Bicycle Account
2006

Almost the same number of people on the track as in the 3 lanes of cars
Bicycle tracks are very efficient
5 times more people can move per hour on a bicycle
track compared with a traffic lane in urban traffic
(Estimation by the traffic planners in the Municipality of Copenhagen)
Gehl Architects Urban Quality Consultants Gl. Kongevej 1, 4.tv DK-1610 Copenhagen V www.gehlarchitects.dk



Bicycle parking takes up little space compared with car parking
10 bicycles = 1 car parking space

Cycling and shopping
Shopping and transport habits in Copenhagen
Report from the Centre for Traffic, City of Copenhagen June 2012

The report is in
Danish only:
Indkb og
transportvaner I
Kbenhavn
Kbenhavns
Kommune,
Center for Trafik
Juni 2012
35% of the shopping trips are on cycle


2/3 of all shopping trips in Copenhagen are made
by cycling and walking p. 5 in the report

Cyclists spend as much as car drivers


As a whole cyclists
spend just as much
money in shops as car
drivers

Main conclusion in the report p. 2

How important are cyclists for shops
in Copenhagen?
Centre for Traffic, City of Copenhagen
June 2012


Also in USA Please see new report:
Protected Bike lanes Mean Business
People for Bikes and Alliance for
Biking & Walking
Copenhagen
Gehl Architects Urban Quality Consultants Gl. Kongevej 1, 4.tv DK-1610 Copenhagen V www.gehlarchitects.dk

People who take their bicycle to
work have a 28% lower mortality
rate than the average
population
(after adjustment for, among other issues,
differences in terms of job, smoking,
leisure-time activities, and body mass
index).
Cycling, exercise and Health Published by The Ecological Council, The Heart Association, school
and Society and The Danish Bicycle Federation 2007
L.B.Andersen et al: All-cause
Mortality Assiciated with Physical
Activity During Leisure Time, Work,
Sports, and Cycling to Work, Arch.
Intern. Med., Vol. 160, June 12,
2000, p.1621
It is good for your health
A large Danish study has shown that
Gehl Architects Urban Quality Consultants Gl. Kongevej 1, 4.tv DK-1610 Copenhagen V www.gehlarchitects.dk

Survey by Megafon for Danish Cycle Federation 2010
Cyclists
are happier!

Feeling of happiness with your
choice of transportation
Cycle Car
Train Bus
Hardware
Hardware Software
We need user friendly
infrastructure that is
self explanatory!
Hardware
The cycle track should come to you
when and where you need it!

You need a network for cyclists
A citywide network of bicycle tracks in Copenhagen

You must give the bicyclist the priority!
5-6 seconds
green light
before the
cars
Bicyclists
can turn right
but cars are
not allowed
Green wave for bicycles
The prerequisite is an inviting infrastructure
where all generations feel good!
Copenhagen
The infrastructure must not only be safe
but must increase the feeling of safety
Copenhageners use bicycles more and more
Copenhagen Bicycle Account 2010
Latest update 2013
Highest number of cyclists per day
on this street is 40,000
Building a bicycle culture
The potentials of every day cycling
Software
Business people cycle
Copenhagen
Cellists and bass players cycle
Copenhagen
Immigrants cycle
Copenhagen
mothers cycle.
Copenhagen
fathers cycle.
Copenhagen
children and grown ups cycle
Copenhagen
Old folks cycle
Copenhagen
and lovers cycle
Copenhagen
Bicycling can give individual mobility - door to
door - to far more people than most alternatives
Copenhagen
People cycle in all weathers
Also in Winters with snow


Copenhagen
70 % continue
in the Winter
Campaigns and events - try it out
And there are many more things you can do besides a Ciclo-Via
CicloVia Lima, Peru
Cycle to Work!
National campaigns ever year Danish Cyclists
Federation
Denmark
Cycling to school campaigns
and teaching children in kindergartens to cycle
Copenhagen
Many other campaigns
- Awareness of turning trucks
- Anti car-doring campaigns
- Win a cake for good cycling
- etc
In many cities they say it cannot be done
Copenhagen
The topography is wrong
The climate is wrong!
It is not our culture
But like walking:
People and conditions can change!
walking
Public
transit
cycling
Transit is part of city life
and cycling should be an integrated part of
the system
A good public space network is a
prerequisite for public transit

Freiburg Tram, Germany
Flexibility - Cycles on commuter trains
No restrictions or ticket for your bike
Copenhagen Free Internet
Double size compartments for cycles
Copenhagen 2011
Also cycles on the trams

Strasbourg, France
Seattle, USA
Or cycles on the bus

Taxies must have a rack for 2 bicycles
Copenhagen
New e-City Bikes with tablet computer,
Copenhagen 2014
City Bikes
Another possibility and link to transit
Walking
Public
transit
Public
space
Sustainable use of Public space
= More active mobility
= Softer Cities for People
Cycling
World Class Streets
New York City
NYC Dept. of Transport
w/ Gehl Architects,
Published: 13 Nov 2008
Public
Life
Public
Space
Recommendations
Pilot projects in New York
Painting on the street
Converting car-space to people-space
New York Pedestrian & Bicycle Strategy
New Copenhagen style cycle tracks
Copenhage
n style
bicycle
tracks and
lanes

Main
principle:
Pedestrian
s +
bicyclists
Parked
cars +
traffic lanes

9th Ave. Apr.08
9th Ave. Sep.08
New York Pedestrian & Bicycle Strategy


Times Square - before

New York Pedestrian & Bicycle Strategy


Times Square - after

From coffee to go to coffee to stay
Times Square - before

Times Square - after

It is all about
quality of life
This used to be the case in N.Y.
Bicycle couriers and daredevils fighting the cars

New York 1990
Now: Cycling upright
Dutch style cycles = Indicators of change



New York 2011
Parents cycling with kids
Indicators of change

New York 2011
Parents and kids cycling
Indicators of change: Feeling of safety is growing


New York 2011
Why are some cities great to walk & cycle in?
It is not the question about different cultures, different
climates, different topography that matters
Political will and action is a necessity!
Cities that do the
right things - over
time - are the
successful walk &
cycle cities
There are great
differences in cycling in
different cities in the
same Nation with the
same culture, climate
and topography.
Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York City, received
the first prize from The Cycling Embassy of Denmark
Commuter bicycling in New
York City has increased by
32% from 2007 to 08 and
26% from 2008 to 09
Welcome in the 21st Century
www.cycling-embassy.org
Welcome in the 21st Century
www.cycling-embassy.org
Cities for People
are soft cities that combine
walking, cycling and transit in
an intelligent way


Walking
Public
transit
Public
space
Cycling