The Life-Sized City Blog

Most regions have been experiencing climate change in various forms over the past few years. One of the changes we're experiencing here in Denmark is sudden and torrential rainstorms in the summer. Epic, tropical rainstorms. One of them hit last Saturday and the capital region recieved in two hours the normal rainfall we'd get over two months. It was, indeed, epic. I was at Bang & Jensen café in the Vesterbro neighbourhood and the storm was a spectator sport for those of us inside. It was a great atmosphere and we had a paper boat competition, setting our contraptions afloat in the street. Needless to say, none of us had cellars to worry about. I've never been so pleased to live on the fourth floor, although my kitchen floor was covered in a thin layer of water because of an open window. Over the past few years of these torrential downpours the talk afterwards is always about the massive cost to the insurance industry in payouts and about the hopeless run-off/se...

Couldn't help myself. I was lingering like a bad smell at the Nørreport train station last Saturday, waiting for a friend and I took some photos of more example of bike seat rain covers, as I wrote about the other day . Nørreport is the country's busiest train station and the bicycle parking around it testifies to that. I only covered a fraction of the bicycle parking and still managed to find a number of example of rain covers. Copenhagen University, a purchased rain cover, Alinea teaching material for schools. Swedish rail advert, Information/Danish newspaper Some of the seat covers are exotic. These two are from Sweden. The orange one is an example of the campaign that started this wave of bicycle seat rain cover coverage in the first place.

Might just be me and my secret wish for nicer photography, but it seems that there is an increase in imagery in the Danish press featuring bicycles. Or rather, an increase in the quality of the imagery. I've noticed one national daily, Berlingske Tidende (founded 1749) upping their artistic sensibilities of late. Like the photo, above, taken in Aalborg yesterday morning. It's a simple article about the weather but it features a cyclist rolling on the bike lane in the snow (past all the cars on the road, of course). The temperature was about -10 C, with a wicked windchill. Then there was this weather article from late last year about rain and wind. Beautiful shot. Like all of these photos, showing cyclists adds a human element to the story. In a country like Denmark we can relate to the weather when we see a fellow citizen struggling through the elements on a bicycle. The same newspaper used to have Bicycle Weather included on their weather page in their print version. Showing...

The fact that cycling is healthy is not a newsflash. However, as we highlighted in a previous post over at Copenhagen Cycle Chic , about why this city rides bikes so much, the majority of Copenhageners don't ride primarily to save the world or because they're health fanatics. According to the study: 54% ride because it is easy and fast . 19% ride because of the benefits of excercising. 7% ride because it is cheap. 6% ride because it is handy. 1% ride because of the environmental benefits. Nevertheless, the Copenhagen City Council - in their Biannual Cycle Report - had the consultancy company Trafitec rate the societal and health aspects of our bicycle culture. While these figures are specific to Copenhagen, based on our current levels of health and welfare, the results and stats are interesting nonetheless. Just the facts: - Physically active people live ca. 5 years longer than the physically inactive. - Physically inactive persons suffer on average for four more years from len...