Mobility in Copenhagen: Blueprint for Sustainable Cities
#nextvisions about the future of cities
We sent podcast host and self-proclaimed “expert on everything” Markus Herrmann on a road trip across Europe to find out how cities embrace the future of urban space. In this episode, we’re in Copenhagen, a city that is known for its incredible bicycle infrastructure. But the Danish capital has more to offer, eg. an artificial ski slope.
When it comes to urban mobility, Copenhagen is immediately mentioned as a prime example. After all, the Danish capital is considered the European capital of cycling. But apart from two-meter-wide cycle paths, what makes the development of the cityscape, and the mobility associated with it, so special?
Copenhagen is the capital of Denmark and the country’s cultural and economic center. The municipality of Copenhagen has about 600,000 inhabitants, while the population of the entire metropolitan area is about 1,300,000.
According to the city ranking of the consulting firm Mercer, Copenhagen ranked eighth out of 231 major cities in the category of the world’s most livable cities in 2018.
More details on the city’s structure and mobility can be found in the Urban Mobility Index.
Copenhagen’s outstanding bicycle infrastructure
If you take a look at the figures on bicycles, Copenhagen’s special position quickly becomes clear. An impressive 45 percent of the inhabitants commute to work, school or university by bike, covering around 1.4 million kilometres every day. According to a study, even more people in the Greater Copenhagen area bike to work every day than in the entire USA. There are five times more bicycles than cars in the city center, and only 14 percent of inhabitants drive a car every day.
It’s clear that with so much cycling traffic, new records are being set. The cycle path at Nørrebrogade, for example, is the world’s busiest cycle path, with up to 40,000 cyclists a day. Not only there, but in the entire city area, about 1,000 kilometers of cycle paths provide the right connection. Of these, 200 kilometers alone are high-speed cycle paths — so-called Cykelsuperstier — which are particularly well-developed and designed to prioritize bike traffic. These cycle paths are three meters wide, and the traffic lights along them are synchronized to create a “green wave” so cyclists don’t have to stop at intersections.
But it’s also the small things that show further thought is being given to cyclists here. For example, rubbish bins are oriented diagonally towards the cyclists, and there are footrests at the traffic lights so that cyclists don’t have to get out of their saddles while waiting.
Rent your bike via App
Those who would like to take advantage of the cyclists’ paradise themselves are best served by the city bikes from the Bycyklen public bike hire system. After a short registration, you can rent one of the e-bikes and start cycling right away.
Bycycklen city bikes already have a long tradition in Copenhagen. In May 1995, the first 1000 city bikes rolled through Copenhagen’s streets. And when Bill Clinton came to Denmark for a state visit in 1997, he received the “City Bike One” as an official guest gift.
As progressive as the rental bike system might be, there have still been some unexpected setbacks. Until recently, e-bikes were equipped with tablets, which not only allowed you to rent the bike but also to view a map and information about the surrounding area. Unfortunately, due to heavy vandalism last year, all tablets were removed from the bikes.
Ski on Copenhagen’s artificial ski slope
Even though Copenhagen is completely flat and it hardly ever snows, there is one rather unexpected way of getting around: downhill skiing! Since the beginning of 2019, Copenhagen has a new landmark, the “CopenHill”. A ski slope was built on the roof of a waste incineration plant, on whose dry ski slope you can ski almost 100 meters down into the valley.
In addition to the city bikes of Bycyklen, there is another provider, Donkey Republic, which works without fixed stations.
If you want to discover Copenhagen via the many cycle paths, you’ll first want to familiarize yourself with a few basic rules. Turns are announced by hand signals, and if you want to stop, you indicate this by holding your flat hand next to your head.
The excellent network of cycle paths is of course also perfectly suited for e-scooters. In Copenhagen, there are currently three providers: Lime, TIER and Voi.
It is hard to believe it, but the waste incineration plant Amager Bakke inside the urban ski slope is one of many building blocks for Copenhagen’s next big goal: the city wants to become climate neutral by 2025. If it succeeds, Copenhagen would be the world’s first CO2-neutral capital. Since 2009, a multi-faceted plan has been underway to achieve this goal. What starts with rather obvious measures such as solar panels on public buildings extends to the optimization of menus in canteens and kindergartens. Copenhagen is on its way to become a sustainable model for the whole world — not only on the cycle path.
A visit to Jægerborg Dyrehave is a good way to get out into the countryside. The huge park is located in the suburb of Klampenborg and invites you to walk for hours between the sea, the forest, and a small theme park.
The Copenhagen Card offers a great deal for visitors who want to make the most of their time in the Danish capital. Besides the entrance to 80 different attractions, you can also use it to ride on all public transport.
Even underground, Copenhagen still has something unique to offer. In dark halls that used to be the city’s water reservoir, you can now find “The Cisterns”, a huge exhibition area for art and culture.
Markus Herrmann is a blogger, author, and member of the successful podcast “Gästeliste Geisterbahn”. For Porsche, he is testing the mobility level of the Back 2 Tape metropolises in Europe.
The project “Back 2 Tape” is a cooperation between the Porsche Newsroom and music journalist Niko Backspin. It follows the tracks of hip hop in Europe. All further information on this project can be found in the Porsche Newsroom.
An important note: Markus’ trip through Europe as well as “Back 2 Tape” were produced before the outbreak of COVID-19. Porsche, Backspin and the involved agencies and artists are aware of their social responsibility and advise against such a trip at this time out of consideration for the health and well-being of all people.
