The Life-Sized City Blog

Copenhagenize Design Company Guest Author, Jason Henderson , is Professor of Geography & Environment at San Francisco State University, visiting Copenhagen this Fall on a research sabbatical examining how culture, politics, and economics shapes transportation in Copenhagen. Jason is author of Street Fight: The Politics of Mobility in San Francisco (2013) , and co-author of Low Car (bon) Communities: Inspiring Car-Free and Car Lite Urban Futures . He has published articles in International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Antipode, Urban Geography, the Journal of Transport Geography and several book chapters in academic books on sustainable transportation and the politics of the automobile. He is a Master Class by Copenhagenize alumni, as well. Electric Cars: Where Will the Energy Come From? by Jason Henderson Electric cars are often touted as a promising response to climate change, reducing air pollution, and bringing energy security. So it’s not surprising that th...

Updated 22.09.2017 I often voice my scepticism about the hype surrounding e-bikes in the many interviews I give, but I realised I'd never written an article about it. So here goes. There has been an enormous amount of hype surrounding e-bikes. Rule #1: Whenever there is a thick cloud of hype, there is most often another side to the issue that is being neglected. Which is what I've been exploring. When that thick cloud of hype is generated by profit-based industry, your grain of salt just got bigger. Baseline E-bikes serve a purpose. Absolutely. They are a great niche addition to the existing armada of bicycles that have served citizens for 125 years. They have the potential of increasing the mobility radius of cycling citizens - especially the elderly. All good. Safety and Speed The first point that should be of interest to anyone working in urban mobility, active transportation or whatever they call it where you're from is the safety aspect. The average speed ...

Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia. Photo: Ezequiel Cabrera/Wikipedia The coming boom in batteries to electric cars and Lazy Bikes (electric-assist bicycles) means a boom in batteries with which to run them. A new race for natural resources has begun. Enter Lithium, the world's lightest metal. For 150 years it's been nickel and lead that have been used in batteries but the advent of lithium technology has allowed for a revolution. Longer battery life, lighter batteries in our laptaps and mobile phones and iPods. Lithium weighs 1/20th of what nickel and lead do. Lithium is also used in anti-depressive medicine, ceramics and nuclear power. With all this talk of electric cars and bicycles, the demand for lithium is on the verge of exploding. Lithium is the new oil. Enter Boliva. This developing country sits on at least half of the world's supply of lithium, most of it in underground salt layers beneath the world's largest salt flats in Salar de Uyuni , in south-west Boliva. Betwee...

Now THIS is how to promote cycling. No fear mongering from helmet advocates, just pure joy. Showing the facts about the health benefits of cycling without mentioning them. Absolutely brilliant advert from Hungary. Her bag reads, "Bike to Work." The dialogue goes like this: Lady: Would you like some tea? Man: Yes, that would be lovely, thanks. Telltale noises from the other side of the wall. Lady [muttering under her breath]: You should rather be biking, too, Rezso. The tagline at the end is "You should rather be biking, too..." With the Olympics in full swing I thought I'd post this little screen grab: We fancy our rowing in Denmark - mostly because we usually win medals - and watching the rowing I was fascinated by the long line of bicycles on shore, following the boats. So aesthetic - human powered boats dancing with human-powered bicycles. Here's a little addendum to a previous post about our Electric Boogie elderly/disabled citizens, happily humming abo...