The Life-Sized City Blog

Got a call from Larry vs Harry the other day. One of their customers had converted a Bullitt cargo bike into a power station with a wind turbine and solar panels charging a battery. That's something I had to see for myself so I called Ulrik Bing from HumanBattery.dk and met up with him and his colleagues last week. The bicycle and the wind, in Copenhagen anyway, are often at odds with each other. It's a frightfully windy city and it always seems like there is a headwind. The very idea of combining the two is fantastic. Creating a Bullitt with a wind turbine and solar panels is just one of many ideas on the go with Ulrik Bing, Carsten Koch [the construtor] and Claus Nørregaard. With the UN Climate Conference on the horizon in December 2009 they have a thick idea catalogue with ways to bring climate consciousness to the people. Speaking with them and hearing their enthusiasm as they rattle off their many idealist ideas is infectious. The Bullitt cargo bike is a flagship for th...

The famous Tivoli Gardens in the centre of Copenhagen plans to be the world's first amusement park to be powered by wind energy. Tivoli Gardens were opened in 1843 and, with the exception of Bakken north of Copenhagen which opened in the late 1500's, it is the oldest amusement park in the world. It inspired Walt Disney to build Disneyland. In collaboration with DONG Energy [Danish Oil & Natural Gas], Tivoli aims to be wind powered by 2010. Next year, in December 2009, the world will descend on Copenhagen for the UN Climate Conference - also called COP 15 . It will be time for the countries of the world to sign a new climate agreement to replace the Kyoto Agreement. There is enormous focus on this climate conference. There will be many environmental projects launched between now and then and we're going to cover what we can here on Copenhagenize. Focus on bicycle culture, of course, with a bit of sustainability thrown in. And hopefullly a load of good things involving ...

Good news this morning. The street here in Copenhagen - Nørrebrogade - that has been closed off to cars for a trial period of three months will now enjoy a permanent status. "Our goal of transforming Nørrebrogade into a better place to be, making it easier to be a cyclist, pedestrian and bus passenger, has succeeded", said Klaus Bondam, the councillor in charge of Traffic and Environment. "Even among those who choose to drive there is a majority for making the initiative permanent", he added. We've covered this exciting development in previous posts. See the link list at the bottom. In summary, Nørrebrogade [North Bridge Street] is a main artery leading into the city. It slices through a neighbourhood where only 30-40% own cars so the traffic isn't local. The street has always had problems flourishing, despite the fact that 75,000 people travel down it each day. It is the busiest bike street in the nation with 35,000 bikes a day. In addition, 65,000...

Thanks to Alex in NYC for letting us know about Worksman Cycles . He was doing a bit of research about NYC's pizza delivery bikes - the ones with a box on the front - and stumbled upon this company. Founded in 1898, Worksman Cycles call themselves the oldest bicycle manufacturer in the USA. They produce human-powered transport for industrial and recreational use and it is wonderful to see all the cargo bikes and trikes they build. The photo above is from their Photo Gallery , featuring an IBM repairman ca. 1957 on his cargo bike. Here's an interesting variation on the kid carrying theme. I love the cosy canopy. Worksman Cycles state on their website that " Worksman Cycles has long been known as the world-leader in Industrial Cycles (Bicycles and Tricycles) ". A bit farfetched perhaps... what is the yardstick? Most bicycles sold? The most recognisable cargo bike brand in marketing surveys? Who knows. Maybe they could follow Carlsberg's lead. Their 'Probably th...

I didn't know this until yesterday. At Copenhagen City Hall they have what is possibly the loveliest bike parking in the capital. Inside the back entrance, where most of the employees enter, there are two large areas for bike parking. Surrounded by the beautiful interior design from when the building was erected in 1905. You can bet that the parking for bicycles was built into the original plan for the building. Needless to say, the racks were filled to overflowing. The person on the right couldn't find an empty spot and ended up squeezing her bike in. The racks are of a kind seen in many places in Copenhagen. You swing a handle thingy up and place it on your handlebars. It holds your bike in place. There were few bikes actually parked like that. Indeed, I rarely see bikes using this unique design. That's what kickstands are for. Or the classic racks that hold your wheel. Copenhageners go for ease-of-use and this extra bit of work to park your bike defeats the purpos...

Photo by ' fixed gear ' on Flickr. So the bicycle licence beast raises it's ugly head again. This time in Seattle . Sure, it's only an opinion piece from a man who doesn't look like he's been on a bicycle since the days the plates above were valid, but still. Copenhagenize is quite clear on bike licences. They are one of the most ridiculous inventions in the history of transport. "Bikes should pay" is a weak argument from the Automotive Defence League. We've posted about this before in a rebuttal aimed at anyone who mumbles 'bike licences'. Here's the link. Use it freely . - Bicycle licences are a logistical nightmare that almost always end up in the red. That's why they've been dropped all over the world. They're simply not cost-effective. More cyclists on the streets and on the new infrastructure are a bonus for any city: - More cyclists means less wear and tear on the roads which means less roadworks and fewer delays for ...

You'd expect LEGO, being Danish, to have featured the bicycle amongst their products. There are no bicycles in my boy's 10 kg pile of LEGO - a potpourri of Lego spanning 35 years and including the new stuff, my childhood lego and my little brothers, too - but I've seen them before. So a little googling brought me to this nerdy website listing sets that include LEGO bicycles. I slapped a number of the photos into the graphic above and included a couple of images I found on the internet. My favourite is at bottom left. A petrol station shop. A cyclist pedals calmly away carrying an ice cream in one hand and fresh flowers in her panniers. She is glancing over at a motorist who can't control his vehicle and who, it appears, forgot his change. I like the contrast. Above there is Café Corner, with a bike parked out front, of course. Two of the shots feature merchandising for the German Team Telekom from back in 2000. The Tour de France is [has been] such a major cultural eve...

Das Strike Bike Annie, one of the owners of Christiania Bikes , just visited a bike factory in Nordhausen, Germany and sent me a mail about it. I had heard about the striking bicycle workers, but that was ages ago. Turns out they are still at it. 135 colleagues in the Bike Systems GmbH factory, faced with a factory closure, decided to protest and try to save their jobs. This was back in July 2007! As I understand it, the union rules in Germany dictate that only a union can call a strike, and not the workers themselves. Their union wasn't game so the workers decided to hold a "professional meeting" to discuss the situation. They are allowed to do so. There are, however, no rules dicatating how long that meeting can last. So their meeting went on and on and on. Brilliant move. In order to prevent the factory being dismantled they kept it occupied in three shifts. Eventually an idea was formed. Self-management of the factory and production. A product was needed and they came...

There's a behavourial campaign at the moment with car doors placed around town and the message "Catch the cyclist with your eyes, not your door". Pretty straightforward campaign. No real fear-mongering at play. Just a good reminder for both motorists and cyclists alike. Nevermind the fact that I have never heard of anybody getting smacked by a car door. Most of the bike lanes are wide enough to avoid this. But hey. At least the campaign helps motorists [most of whom are cyclists, too] remember the bicycles. Thanks to Kristoffer for the photo.

Here's an interesting list of 28 reasons to ride your bicycle , as compiled by the University of Central Florida. It is based on Orlando but the sources are broad and thorough. There is a link at the bottom of the page to the sources of their research. Or just click here . In addition, I just watched this interesting PBS show about commuting and petrol prices. I couldn't embed it, so click on through to see it. 28 Reasons To Ride your Bicycle 1. Increase in local property values. 2. Correlation with Overall Wealth. The notion that more cars equals more wealth is really more myth than reality. In fact, some new research shows that high and increasing levels of car dependence actually harms an economy. In a report to the World Bank, researchers from the Institute for Science and Technology Policy (ISTP) in Perth, Australia showed that there are "diseconomies" associated with car use. Auto dependence can drain an economy of its wealth…. It found that, among cities in th...