Cycling: The Dutch Way of Living
Name: Jorja Oladiran | Week: Term 2, Week 3 | Topic: Cycling & Sustainability
Cycling is one of the most sustainable and urban modes of transport in present day. ‘Cycling promotes good health, it has very limited negative effect on the environment and offers a cheaper mode of transport then traditional forms of travelling.’ [1]And when you think of bike culture, the Netherlands is almost akin in thought. An undatable means of transport, the Netherlands has been a leading pioneer and contributor of cycling culture for centuries — cycling is innate within modern Dutch culture and it is refreshing to see even in this technologically growing planet, the use of bikes hasn’t decreased, if anything increased in the Netherlands. The assimilation of bikes within everyday life sets an example of sustainable living and promotes internal as well as external benefits. Moreover, cycling culture is great, as it is gives agency to the individual and consumer that they can play their role in helping the environment. The Dutch approach to cycling should be taken as a precedence for many other nations to adopt and promote sustainable living.
The Netherlands is home to the largest demographic of bike users in the world. The ‘average Dutch person who owns a bicycle is 1.3 per capita,’[2] the highest amount of bicycles owned by any country in the world and gives a glimpse towards the popularity of cycling in the Netherlands. “Almost a quarter of the Dutch population cycle everyday” … with approximately “17% of over 65’s cycling every day.”[3] The health benefits of cycling are endless, from increasing energy to increasing blood pressure; the Dutch population are actively improving their health alongside perpetuating sustainability.
The infrastructure and landscape of the Netherlands allows for easy and accessible assimilation of bicycles. Train stations hold multidimensional bicycles racks and typically having more spaces for bikes than cars. There’s also the easy access ‘to hire’ bicycles in towns, which promote workers to reduce their ecological footprint and cut down greenhouses gases by using their fuel driven vehicles less for work. The nation has really worked hard to facilitate the use of bicycles as the primary form of transport. Insofar that the everyday mundane task like shopping, travelling to school, commuting to work, etc have proven the quick fix use of cars is only wasteful and unsustainable.
Even the future of cycling is leaning towards more sustainable ways of living. Although not a new invention bike sharing is a growing renovation that is becoming popular again in modern society. “Bike sharing greatly increases the availability of bikes, the flexibility of routing, and access to and from public transport. Bike-sharing systems are continually advancing technologically, thus enabling their future integration into comprehensive mobility packages, like public transport, or Uber-like taxi services, all of which provide alternatives to the private cars.” [4]Although small, it promotes the re-use of the bike, rather than the single use trips of private cars. It builds greater community relations and most importantly, presumes a sustainable future system.
Moreover, E-Bikes have also catalysed the thinking on sustainability in terms of cycling. “First introduced in China and now in northern Europe. The total number of E-bikes rose from only 290,000 in 2000 to 35.3 million in 2016 (Campbell, Cherry, Ryerson, & Yang, 2016).”[5] The use of E-bikes has shown a growing decline in the use of cars for young people — with “E-Bikes accounting for 30% of all bike sales in 2016 in the Netherlands and Belgium,”[6] we can attribute its popularity to its contemporary appeal on the young demographic. It offers a new form of transport, de-structuralising old ideas on the usage and necessity cars and motor vehicles.
In conclusion, “The Netherlands provides an excellent example of how a country can become more liveable and most sustainable by designing its transport system around the bike.”[7] They promote ways of living that move away from the dependence of cars and their decaying effects on the planet. Bicycles are accessible and affordable for all, there are environmental, social and personal benefits to cycling. And Cycling fosters one of the most beneficial modes of transport, that the consumer can contribute to on a daily basis. The way Dutch culture linked with the use of bicycles, through its landscape; to its ability to stay forward with new adaptions such as E-Bikes is inspiring. The nation shows that this change in lifestyle has tremendous benefits towards sustainability. And for these reason, other nations should try to adopt some aspects of Dutch cycling culture.
[1] John Pucher and Ralph Buehler, Cycling towards a more sustainable transport future, (Virginia: Transport Reviews, 2017), 689.
[2] “Dutch Cycling figures,” January 28 2018, https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2018/01/02/dutch-cycling-figures/
[3] “Dutch Cycling figures,” January 28 2018, https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2018/01/02/dutch-cycling-figures/
[4] John Pucher and Ralph Buehler, Cycling towards a more sustainable transport future, (Virginia: Transport Reviews, 2017) 689–94.
[5] John Pucher and Ralph Buehler, Cycling towards a more sustainable transport future, (Virginia: Transport Reviews, 2017), 689–694.
[6] [6] “Dutch Cycling figures,” January 28 2018, https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2018/01/02/dutch-cycling-figures/
[7] John Pucher and Ralph Buehler, “Sustain: A journal of environmental and sustainability issues,” Sustainable communities, (2009–2010), 36, https://repository.difu.de/jspui/bitstream/difu/126820/1/DB1170.pdf
Bibliography
Pucher, John and Ralph Buehler. Cycling towards a more sustainable transport future. Virginia: Transport Reviews, 2017.
“Dutch Cycling figures.” January 28 2018, https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2018/01/02/dutch-cycling-figures/
Pucher, John and Ralph Buehler. “Sustain: A journal of environmental and sustainability issues,” Sustainable communities, (2009–2010), 36, https://repository.difu.de/jspui/bitstream/difu/126820/1/DB1170.pdf
