The Life-Sized City Blog

Copenhagen's famous pedestrian street "Strøget" turns 50 on September 2, 2012. There will be festivities up and down the street in celebration. Here's a post that shows the origins of the idea can be found in 1913. Originally published on 11 August 2009. I dipped into the archives the other day and found an interesting article from 1913 about traffic on the main thoroughfare in Copenhagen - ' Strøget '. In the early 1960's Strøget, the main street running east-west through the city centre, became quite famous. It was closed off to cars and transformed into a pedestrian zone. Strøget 1951 and in 1964. Strøget now. (on a very quiet morning, believe me) There were protests back then. Cries of "we're not Italians! We don't want to walk !" were heard in the city. Shopkeepers feared for their businesses. Fortunately, the idea was implemented by the City of Copenhagen. They had seen some of the great ideas by urban planner Jan Geh...

My " Monumental Motion - a cycling life in the capital of Denmark " photo exhibition - produced together with the Danish Foreign Ministry's Public Diplomacy Office -  continues to travel and will do so for another year or so. It's been brilliant to attend some of the openings - when my schedule permits - and meet inspirational people in cities around the world. All the exhibitions have been great. Like any photographer it's a thrill see your work on display. The world premiere in Ljubjlana, Slovenia last year has to be the best exhibition thus far. The City has a permanent exhibition space along the river and the photos of Copenhagen's cycling life were blown up to an impressive size. The vice-Mayor of the city spoke at the opening, as did the Danish Ambassador and myself. There was also a photo competition for local photographers to take photos of their cycling city and I got to award the prizes for the best photos (bottom left). Ljubljana is a...

It's no longer the city you may think it is, it seems. The Danish Justice Minister, Morten Bødskov , is the latest antagonist to restrict the growth of Copenhagen's bicycle culture. He has proposed that Danish municipalities be allowed to remove bicycles parked incorrectly. It is currently only the police who are authorised to do so. That there are many bicycles parked outside bike racks is certainly a fact and an interesting issue. Look at the cartoon at the top. It's from a legendary Danish satirist, Storm P., who was always keen to highlight the cycling situation, as he was a bicycle user himself. We've translated his pisstake on the anti-cyclist mood in the 1930's previously . The cartoon reads, " Since they're considering to use sidewalks for bicycle parking, it'll be rather difficult to walk on them ." There were many more bicycles in use in Copenhagen in 1938 than there are now. Parking was an issue then, as it is now. It's bas...

I cannot be alone in enjoying the irony of this mobile, bike advert in the heart of Dublin, selling car rental.

This is what we like to see when we check our inbox after a summer holiday. A colleague at the Norwegian Road Directorate attached this poster from the city of Trondheim in an email. Beautiful. It advertises the opening of a new bicycle/pedestrian bridge in the city that links two neighbourhoods - Lade and Dalen. The text reads: "Old Love Never Rusts" "They met at the Student Club. He had brylcreem in his hair and danced swing like a god. She looked a little like Grace Kelly. But she was from Lade and he was from Dalen. Then they met again, in the middle of the bridge." "We have reunited Lade and Dalen." "We're building a safer and more secure bicycle city" Two neighourhoods separated by railway lines and roads are now reunited, thanks to a new bridge - Dalenbrua. Mobility is improved. More convenient and safer for bicycle users and pedestrians. Not a dry eye in the house. Well done, Trondheim. The link was financed ...