The Life-Sized City Blog

Copenhagenize Design Company has had the pleasure of hosting architect and urban planner,  Ahmed Tarek Al-Ahwal, on an exchange from Egypt made possible by the support of the Danish Egyptian Dialogue Institute . He curated these photographs highlighting a long and proud history of using the bicycle as transport in his country. By Ahmed Tarek Al-Ahwal Egypt's President Sisi has been on a bike ride or two, like this one in 2014. He has said that Egyptians should cycle more and that the country can save 16 Egyptian pounds for each 20 km cycled. He has, however, failed to provide any infrastructure. In the recent memory of some Egyptians, cycling used to serve a much wider group of users than today. Residents in Port Said, a port city on the Suez Canal, are proud that cycling used to be their main mode of transportation. Indeed, during rush hour, the ferries were loaded with the bicycles of employees going to work. It´s a narrative that is heard in many other cities, u...

Location: Bygdøy Allé, Oslo // Photographer: Andreas Beer Wilse // Year: 1943 // Norwegian Folkemuseum Images of cities back when the bicycle was a normal transport form - as it was everywhere for decades.  The good people at the City of Oslo's Sykkelprosjektet (The Bicycle Project) - which is effectively Oslo's bicycle office - understand one of the main challenges facing us when trying to reestablish the bicycle as transport in our cities. The short-term memory of humans. Everywhere I travel with my work I hear the same thing - often from people who should know better. That urban cycling isn't possible "here". The usual myths about climate/topography are mentioned (and promptly busted) but also tales of how they have "never cycled here". Sigh. Luckily, intrepid followers of this blog started to delve into the local photo archives and a great many photos have been harvested and presented in this series from all over the world. Now it...

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 .

Los Angeles. 1900. Spring St. near 8th. The latest installment is from a city that enjoyed a modal share for bicycles of 20% at the turn of the last century and built impressive protected bicycle infrastructure like this 10 km, elevated cycle track back in 1900 . Alas, the bicycle disappeared from this area that was described like this in an 1897 newspaper article: " There is no part of the world where cycling is in greater favor than in Southern California, and nowhere on the American continent are conditions so favorable the year round for wheeling. " Thanks to our reader, Rick, we found these photographs showing the bicycle as an accepted and respected part of life in Los Angeles in the Los Angeles Public Library archives . We all know what happened when the car industry went after another competitive transport form . Burbank. 1908. First Street looking east from Yale Avenue in Claremont in 1915. Los Angeles. Ca. 1890. 632 South Broadway. Balboa. Newport...