“David Bowie” cycles in Copenhagen, 2024

Will Norman, London’s cycling Czar, has been promoting Danish cycling culture for a decade, usually without mentioning it by name. So, on a recent trip to Copenhagen, it seemed worth making an ad-hoc study of the cycling scene.

Cycling in Denmark, 2015

Will Norman at Kensington Town Hall

Back in 2017-18, when the whole CS9 debate got going in Hammersmith, in addition to a proposal for a cycle lane down Kensington High Street, the picture adjacent kept popping up – it’s clearly not London for several obvious reasons. Appearing first in Mayoral pronouncements on London cycling and on Twitter, it then appeared as a huge backdrop as Dr. Norman tried to convince hundreds of residents at Kensington Town Hall that he had a plan for them. A little sleuthing revealed unambiguously that this was Copenhagen in 2015, which, by and by, triggered this story. Copenhagen in 2024 looks unchanged – it’s a remarkably different culture, well worth a look.

Rush Hour, Copenhagen September 2024

Firstly there’s very little testosterone evident, historically the fuel of choice for London’s cycling campaigners – until e-bikes were found more effective. There’s still the occasional Lycra-clad hooligan running the lights in Copenhagen, but that’s perhaps 1 in 1000, and people shrug, assuming that a Darwinian intervention will deal with the problem in time. The lack of testosterone is perhaps due to the fact that there seemed to be as many – probably more – women and there’s a good cross section of the population of every age on two wheels, as the photos show. To reinforce this, all bikes seem to be of the “sit up and beg” style, so you meet and greet your fellow cyclists and pedestrians in a civil way. There are practically no “heads down” racing bikes.  Surely to Dr. Norman’s delight, leafier parts of London have started to look like this too, particularly at weekends, but our rush hours look rather different.

London cycling 2024

Secondly, the wearing of helmets, Lycra, and related body armour simply isn’t the big thing it is in London. Perhaps 10-20% wear helmets, often jauntily, but not in defiance of other road users. A pair of flip-flops and a soft cap are more common. Altogether it’s a relaxed culture, not that they’re ambling. The flat roads allow reasonable speeds to be achieved, and as a pedestrian, you need to watch your step. People both walking and cycling are noticeably more obedient in following of the rules of the road and traffic lights.

Bike fest near a Copenhagen Station

Hire bikes were a lot less less visible than in London, and e-bikes were rare. Hotels have the standard issue sturdy bike – they are just part of an infrastructure. You pick one up and use it.

Painted line segregation, Copenhagen

Thirdly, the road space in central Copenhagen, like so many European cities is far more generous than we’re used to. A cycle lane in each direction fits with enough space for perhaps 3 lanes of traffic in each direction. However there are narrower roads with just painted lines, where cycle lanes start and stop as shown, it’s not a big deal, segregation (so-called “protected lanes”) isn’t the mantra it’s become at TfL, the apparent result of lobbying, unsupported by accident statistics which show that 80% happen at (obviously unprotected) junctions. Where roads are too narrow, they are often pedestrianised in the central part of the city, and everyone walks.

The Public realm

It’s instructive to look at the way the roads are laid out in a bit more detail, this being a key issue in London. Aside from the obvious generosity of the space on main roads, which allows dedicated lanes each side, it’s instructive to look at road design where the space is  a bit more limited, like most of London, to see if there are better ideas that we could use. The key points were:

• The are no wands or similar trip hazards in evidence, plastic or otherwise.
• Often there’s little, if any, physical segregation, as Will’s 2015 photo, and two of the three 2024 street scenes above show.
• If there is segregation, and there’s a good amount of space, it’s done with a landscaped island with trees as shown above. 
• If there isn’t the space for an island, a slightly raised cycle lane is often used, perhaps 2 inches or so – clear to a driver if he or she were to wander into it, but not so dangerous that a pedestrian would trip over it. No knobbly lane markers, or similar trip hazards.
• There are no bidirectional cycle lanes on the roads, you cycle with traffic flow. Denmark got rid of bidirectional lanes on roads in built up areas 25 years ago as they are too dangerous.
• There are a few bus stop bypasses. But with a much more respectful culture all ways round, pedestrians seemed a lot more relaxed about crossing them, certainly than they are in London.
• Pavements often seemed surprisingly narrow. The roads had either been widened to accommodate all the differing needs, pavements suffering as a result, or perhaps they never were very wide.
• On street cycle storage is in robust yet architecturally unimposing bays, like the one shown below. There seems limited need to lock up or provide elaborate covers (“bikehangars”), if bikes are just an everyday utility, unlike London, where 80,000 bikes a year are said to be stolen, making security a significant consideration. The photo also illustrates a typical range of bikes, including child buggies. There appeared no specific allowance the doubtless inclement winter weather.

On street cycle storage, Copenhagen

Conclusion

We might make a couple of unscientific conclusions from this short study.

Culture is the first obvious culprit in our often toxic debate, with the lobby taking on the role of the medieval church in its unwavering condemnation of non-believers, pitting pedestrians, cyclists and other road users against each other. The easy atmosphere of Copenhagen was refreshing by contrast.

Road size is the other big issue. How can we have decent provision if there’s no space?

Both issues are pretty hard to fix, but trying to shove everyone in their segregated aisles down a road that, anywhere else in the world, would be a pedestrianised backwater, clearly isn’t any kind of solution. We should be smarter and less dogmatic about the little space we have.