The Life-Sized City Blog

Our fine friends over at Estonia Cycle Chic posted this clip from a famous [for Estonians] film featuring a character who pedals about on his bicycle. Nipernaadi , from 1983. Lovely music, too.

This is 'a hub of Copenhageners'. We coined this phrase a while back, for fun. There is a long line of interesting names for animal flocks in English like: - A leash of greyhounds - A gaggle of geese - An exaltation of larks - A shrewdness of apes - A troop of kangaroos - A parliament of owls - A siege of herons - A crash of rhinoceri We played a game over at Cycle Chic a while back and I fancied reviving it. What words can we come up with for bicycles and bicycle culture? Let's write the dictionary, shall we? Here's what we came up with: Val - The King of Kargo Bikes in Seattle : - A pallet of cargo bikes - A lounge of recumbents I came up with: - A cove of beach cruisers - A sweat of racing bikes - A posture of upright bikes - A load of Xtra cycles - An insecurity of helmets [;-)] - An elevation of high-heeled Copenhagen fashionistas - A fold of Bromptons Jason proposed these: - A tower of tall bikes - A cog of fixed gear bikes - A trick of BMXers - A basket of towni...

I was going to do a post about wine labels featuring bicycles today. Nothing groundbreaking, I know, but hey. To my surprise, however, I found out that the Cycles Gladiators wine out of California, who use the above classic vintage poster on their wine labels, was just banned in Alabama for being pornographic. Giggle. First and foremost, it makes me happy that I live in Scandinavia. Censorship-free. You see ads like this on busses ... The ban is completely stupid, I know, but it's also the greatest marketing bonus for any product. Getting banned is free advertising. Anyway, here's a wine called Red Bicyclette with a bicycle on the label. American owned, French grapes. Then there's this one from Nevada City Winery in California . Out of Australia there is Hill of Content . And here's another Australian wine called Rolling. One of their labels features a cyclist. They've developed a story about the women on her bicycle: The ROLLING label featur...

It's been ages since I've seen one of these. They are sooo 80's and frightfully retro. A friend of mine and I laughed when we saw it down at Baisikeli . It was like finding an old Duran Duran fan magazine and giggling at the hairdos and clothes. It flips out from your back rack in order to remind cars that they should keep their distance. And you flip it back in when you park it. A little reflector lights up the known universe so you're 'seen'. Another retro feature is this hub cleaner thingy. You just put it there and it keeps your hub clear of grease and dirt. Unlike the flip-outy thingy above, you can actually still find these and it's not unusual to see them on bikes around Copenhagen.

I think it's safe to say that we have a pressing need for marketing cycling positively if we're to encourage people to ride bicycles and begin the transformation of our cities into more liveable places. Instead of scare campaigns about cycling [a life-extending, healthy, sustainable transport form], wouldn't it be more appropriate to begin campaigns about the dangers of automobiles? Many people in car-centric countries no longer regard cars as dangerous. Maybe they realise it, but the car is such an ingrained part of the culture that the perception of danger rarely rises to the surface of peoples consciousness. Sure, there are scare campaigns for cars out there, but what if we just cut to the chase? Much like smoking. Only a couple of decades ago, cigarettes were an integral part of life, whether you smoked or not. That has changed radically. We think that we could borrow freely from the health warnings now found on cigarette packs around the world. In order to be tho...

Lizzie Davies has an interesting piece in The Guardian today about Paris' Vélib' bike share programme and London's similar system in the works. "It's 2am on a Friday night and I need to get home. There are no taxis, the last metro left 10 minutes ago and, tottering on my three-inch heels, I'm not keen on walking it, either. Unlike when I was a Londoner, and no night out was complete without an excruciating night bus at the end of it, this is no cause for despair. I simply do what every savvy Parisian does now: I take a Vélib'." It really is that simple and that's why Vélib' is such a massive success, despite the growing pains. When Wifealiciousness and I visited last year I said that we were going to have to try the Vélibs because of these bicycle blogs. "No way. There's no way I'm riding a bicycle in Paris traffic..." Shortly after arrival at our favourite hotel we were on the streets and this Parisienne rode past... "I...

Since the Second World War we've been coining new words at a faster point than at any time in the history of homo sapiens. Advances in technology is the main reason, of course. Once in a while a new word pops up that tickles my fancy. Demotorization. A propos the earlier blog about the Audi car advert featuring a bike , Todd sent me a link to this article: Japanese Auto Sales Decline as Youth Lose Interest " A lifestyle choice automakers are calling "demotorization," many Japanese youth feel owning a car in a congested and expensive city such as Tokyo is more trouble than its worth, and choose public transportation instead. TOKYO — In a special report from the Associated Press (AP), AP Business Writer Yuri Kageyama notes that many twenty-somethings in Japan aren't interested in owning a car today. A lifestyle choice automakers are calling "demotorization," many Japanese youth feel owning a car in a congested and expensive city such as Tokyo is more trou...

Scanning the internet there seems to be a wide range of information about which cities are the world's most bicycle friendly. Many of them are opinion pieces and others use various criteria in making up the list. Here at Copenhagenize we figured we'd just look at the hard facts. How many trips are made by bicycle in various cities? If there are many people choosing the bicycle in a city then that would indicate that cycling infrastructure is in place, that the culture is bicycle-friendly, that there is a will to transform cities into more liveable places and that cycling is, or has been, promoted positively. We looked at the stats for OECD countries since these are traditionally cultures where the car is accessible to the citizens and is a main competitor to the bicycle. In the interest of brevity, we chose to feature cities with percentages that are in double-digits. There are large cities and small on the list, from Tokyo to Davis, USA. Copenhagen - 55% [41% city wid...