The Life-Sized City Blog

As you will have seen by now, here at Copenhagenize Design Co. we are currently in the midst of a crowdfunding campaign, raising money to organise a cargo-bike race in Rio de Janeiro, in order to raise the profile of the under-privileged cargo-bike riders of the city. But why do we want to raise their profile? And why do they need their profile raised? As you may remember, a couple of years ago our partners in Rio de Janeiro, the NGO Transporte Altivo did an extensive cargo bike count of the city. This showed that each and every day in Rio, there are over 11,000 cargo bike deliveries. It also showed how hard they work: loads in excess of 200kg are not uncommon. Why is this important? Well, Brazil’s economy is growing at breakneck speed, and by 2016 it is set to be the world’s 5 th largest economy. Cargo bikes are vital to the cities that power this growth, connecting the country's otherwise car-clogged urban environments and ensuring Brazil’s powerhou...

Before the Girl from Ipanema, there was the Bicycle from Copacabana. 1940s. While we are slowly chipping away at the bizarre but nonetheless prevalant misconceptions that bicycles are a new-fangled intruder in cities and all the ridiculous comments like "people won't cycle here... it's too hot/cold/hilly/", they remain a hurdle. Despite over a century of evidence to the contrary. Cycling was a normal transport form in Rio de Janeiro. Someone should tell the president of the Brazilian national oil company Petrobras. She was quoted recently that she "loves traffic jams. They're good for business." Lord knows what she'll do if she sees these photos from the 1940s. Bicycle parking on Copacabana Beach, 1940s. We love the classic Danish Bulldog child's seat . Rio de Janeiro. 1940s. For more photos that , here are some from Los Angeles , Canberra , Queensland , New South Wales , Vancouver , Singapore , Dublin .