The Life-Sized City Blog

In early 2013, Mikael Colville-Andersen developed a design for on-street cargo bike parking that creates space and accessibility for citizens that use cargo bikes on a daily basis.  After this otherwise great prototype for on-street cargo bike parking was removed due to political decisions in Copenhagen, Mikael started thinking about how to design a solution that would improve parking conditions. After almost three years of working with the EU project Cyclelogistics , cargo bikes have become a main focus of Mikael's work. He has two cargo bikes himself and parking is a primary challenge. When you use a cargo bike everyday, you want to have it handy. In many cities, like Copenhagen or Frederiksberg, you find yourself pushing it into the back courtyard because of a lack of secure parking on the street. Cargo bikes are objets de désir for thieves and, unlike regular bicycles, the theft of them is often organised. Most Danish brands are good quality and keep a fair chunk o...

Photes via:  Michel & Augustin We kick off another great year for cargo bikes with wonderful news from France. The City of Boulogne-Billancourt, near Paris, is launching a project called 100 Triporteurs - 100 Cargo Bikes - in Boulogne-Billancourt. It's a project that Copenhagenize Design Co. loves and it is perfect inspiration for our Cyclelogistics.eu project. The company Michel & Augustin is known for both its creative marketing and its delicious cookies. They were looking for a new media to communicate through and that can contribute to a positive paradigm shift in urban life. Together with the Danish cargo bike brand, Nihola , they are launching a cargo bike project aimed at changing peoples perceptions about how to get around the city. Thanks to this project, citizens in Boulogne-Billancourt can buy a Nihola cargo bike for €1000, instead of €2600 . They can also be a part of the new community of Citizen Cyclists who want to make some life changes and a...

Update: 18 Dec 2013 Lulu and I were on the spot when one of her teachers, Heidi, was buying her tree and taking it home. She borrowed one of the many bike trailers at the school to do so. Standing nice and tall in the Copenhagen evening. UPDATE. Typical. Write a blog post and then two bikes with christmas trees roll past your window. So here's an update. Above: Sorte Jernhest cargo bike , complete with tree and kid wearing an elf hat heading home in the evening. Fantastic. This lady rolled past my window pulling her tree on a trailer. Getting close to Jul here in Copenhagen. Christmas tree sellers are occupying squares all around the city. Many people use their bicycles to get the tree home. Here's a collection of the shots we have of people moving their trees home by bike. This lady had just bought a jule tree and the seller was helping her strap it to her bicycle. It took some work and discussion but they finally succeeded. She didn't have far to go, s...

Something one might expect to see at Cycle Chic, but here is the Crown Princess of Tasmania... uh... Denmark on her Nihola cargo bike riding across the palace square outside Amalienborg, where the royal types live. The tabloid's headline reads, " Mary on a bike ride. The Princess takes a day off ". Actually, it's the family's cargo bike. The Crown Prince often drops off his kids at kindergarten in it . One can question whether or not everyday is a day off for a royal. Someone produced this website that tracks the work schedule of Mary's husband, Crown Prince Frederik. Arbejder kronprinsen idag? / Is the Crown Prince working today? But hey, at least Mary is living the dream and a bicycle is under her Aussie ass while she is doing it. Nice.

We've written before about how cargo bike culture starts early in Copenhagen . Here are a couple more examples from last week. Above, heading home from kindergarten, a Copenhagen kid gets to try and ride the family's Christiania bike along the cycle tracks. And this was spotted on my way home from picking up Lulu-Sophia from kindergarten. A mum sitting on the back rack and letting her kid get the feeling of the ride from the saddle of this Nihola . Here's a glimpse into the secret life of cargo bike compartments. This one - one of many - was parked outside the kindergarten. All the essentials for a kid's life. Including a magic wand. I use the Velorbis to pick up Lulu-Sophia at the moment. Well, Lulu and friends, of course. The classic hook on the back racks of Danish bikes comes in handy when transporting a lunchbox. Although apples are doable as well - among many other things. Here's more on these hooks on our bikes .

It was lovely to see bicycles in action at Barcelona Zoo , used by the staff to get around the park. Like many zoos, each exhibition has it's own bicycles. Above, the sticker, refers to a marine exhibit. This chap works with primates. It was interesting to see a Danish Acrobat cargo bike from Esimex at the zoo selling ice cream and soft drinks. The solar panel sticking up was a bit wobbly and I wouldn't want to ride the trike in wind, but hey, it is perfect for riding or pushing the trike around the zoo. Here is a Copenhagen version of the Primate exhibit's bicycle. Sturdy front rack for carrying gear. Every bike at the Copenhagen Zoo is equipped with practical front and/or back racks. At left it is lovely to see that cycling is sociable even at the zoo. And here is a fleet of ice cream bikes, from Acrobat, at the Copenhagen Zoo. As far as I recall, the Sushi Bike that serves the beaches in Copenhagen is also the same brand. Even the humble Tapir exhibit at...

The preparation for this year's Svajerløb - Danish Cargo Bike Championships on 17 September, 2011 at Carlsberg is well underway. We're bustling about at Copenhagenize Consulting to get things up and running together with our collaborators. The races will feature the usual Two Wheeler, Three Wheeler and Team Relay races but we're adding a Vintage Cargo Bike race, a VIP Race for political parties as well as a Mini Svajerløb for small kids. We'll be getting the info about the day out shortly. However, in relation to the last event, the Mini Svajerløb, we have arranged for five mini cargo bikes from the Danish bike brand Winther . They'll be sponsoring the chariots of fire for the kids. You may have seen our earlier post about Early Learning in a Cargo Bike Culture about the many mini bikes and trikes and toys at most Danish schools and daycares . Winther is a family-owned company founded in 1932 and is a tradition-rich brand in Denmark. They are no stran...