Gallery: The 20 Most Bike-Friendly Cities on the Planet
Copenhagenize Design Co.01copenhagen-GALLERY
Copenhagen, #1. With a huge leap in the percentage of residents biking and continued investment in smart infrastructure, Copenhagen is back in the number one slot after a few years in second place.
Copenhagenize Design Co.0202-amsterdam-gallery
Amsterdam, #2. The Dutch capital is still one of the world's best cycling cities, but suffers from its insistence on maintaining a status quo, rather than trying to improve, think modern, and take things to the next level.
Peter Forsberg/Alamy03Voorstraat street central Utrecht city the Netherlands Europe
Voorstraat Street Central in Utrecht.
Copenhagenize Design Co.0404-strasbourg-02-GALLERY
Strasbourg, #4. What this French city has achieved is the result of a generation of planners who insisted on cycling as transport. Cycling in Strasbourg is a pleasant affair and, as it should be, the quickest way from A to B.
New Horizons/Alamy05Downtown Eindhoven, Netherlands
Eindhoven, #5. Cycling in the city is steady and strong. The Floating Roundabout captured our imagination and we are looking forward to what else the city can produce that is functional and iconic.
Copenhagenize Design Co.0606-malmo-GALLERY
Malmö, #6. The main city in Sweden’s most bicycle-friendly region—Skåne—Malmö has been insistent on reestablishing the bicycle on the urban landscape. A highlight since 2013 was the opening of a bicycle parking facility at the train station that makes even Copenhagen look awkward.
Copenhagenize Design Co.0707-nantes-GALLERY
Nantes, #7. The French city is investing in infrastructure, but is also dedicated to traffic calming, which only serves to make cycling a more attractive option. The main boulevard is now virtually car-free for through traffic and the city has put in a demonstrative cycle track down the middle.
Copenhagenize Design Co.0808-bordeaux-02-GALLERY
Bordeaux, #8. The city continues to take bicycle transport seriously. Its investment in tram lines has helped boost cycling by providing a traffic calming effect. The VCub bike share system rolls on and Bordeaux is still focused on marketing cycling to the mainstream through effective advocacy.
Riccardo Sala/Alamy09Belgium, Flanders, Antwerp, Central Station, Antwerpen Centraal Station
Antwerp, #9. Clear influences from across the border in the Netherlands have given the Belgian city an impressive modal share for bicycles and the bicycle as transport is embraced by all ages and wages. There are ample parking facilities around the city and the train station parking remains one of the best in Europe.
JAM WORLD IMAGES/Alamy10San Fernando street. Seville(Sevilla). Andalusia. Spain
Seville, #10. Once the poster child of the cycling world, the Spanish city slips to a respectable tenth place from a lofty fourth. Simply because the status quo that seems to affect all manner of cities seems to have slowed the development pace.
Copenhagenize Design Co.1111-barcelona-03-GALLERY
Barcelona, #11. The city has employed a mixture of traffic calming measures and infrastructure to make it great to choose a bicycle for transport. It is one of the cities in the world with the largest swathe of 30 km/h zones, and while the bicycle infrastructure network is far from complete, it is usable and frequented.
Copenhagenize Design Co.1212-berlin-GALLERY
Berlin, #12. Berlin as a bicycle city is like Berlin as an everything else city. It’s a bit rough around the edges, it could be much better, but people get on with it. The cycling population is mainstream, with few visible sub-cultures and a healthy gender split. A high city-wide modal share is punctuated with neighborhoods that exceed 20 percent.
Copenhagenize Design Co.1313-ljubljana-04-GALLERY
Ljubljana, #13. The Slovenian capital’s journey started in the late 60s and early 70s when 25 miles of Copenhagen-style cycle tracks were built across the city. It maintained a respectable level of cycling for decades. Chosen as the European Green Capital in 2016, it’s once again placing focus on increasing cycling levels making itself a more livable city.
Natacha Pisarenko/AP14Argentina Cycling
Buenos Aires, #14. In a shockingly short amount of time, the Argentine capital has succeeded in modernizing itself to include bicycles as transport. In the past three years, over 87 miles of bicycle infrastructure has been implemented—much of it protected—along with a bike share program.
Copenhagenize Design Co.15bubblers-03-GALLERY
Dublin, #15. What the Irish city has achieved over the past few years is fantastic. The perfect cocktail of politicians who get it, investment in infrastructure and facilities, traffic calming measures, and an epic bike share system accelerated the city’s journey to urban modernization.
Copenhagenize Design Co.1616-vienna-02-GALLERY
Vienna, #16. The Austrian capital featured in the Top 20 in 2011 and bounced out in 2013. It's back with a vengeance this time round. Outside the traffic-calmed center, there are cycle tracks and facilities that put many other cities around the world to shame. The competition is tougher in Europe.
Copenhagenize Design Co.1717-paris-03-GALLERY
Paris, #17. For all the talk of cities like Seville and Dublin, the transformation of Paris is an exciting one. Not least because cities like London and New York take notice when their equals do things differently. Traffic calming like 30 km/h zones and removing last-century car infrastructure helped continue the charge.
DAVID BREWSTER/Alamy18Oct. 10, 2010 - Minneapolis, MN - DAVID BREWSTER A´ [email protected] Sunday 10/10/10 Minneapolis A large bike rally and a panel of speakers will draw attention to the issue Sunday in downtown Minneapolis. The effort is part of an inter
Minneapolis, #18. Minnesota's largest metropolis boasts 120 miles of what it calls “on-street bikeways” and 90 miles of off-street lanes. It's quickly becoming the go-to city in the US for building infrastructure. An impressive (for America) modal share helped push it onto the Index, and we like the political will coming out of City Hall.
Norbert Eisele-Hein/Alamy19Cyclists and sheep on a dike near Hamburg Hallig, North Frisia, North Sea, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, Europe
Hamburg, #19. The city is no slouch on the global scale, but it is as though it’s reluctant to modernize its infrastructure. It gets bonus points for traffic calming with its plans to make the center car-free in the coming years, which helped it stay on the list. As far as modal share goes, there are few cities outside Europe that can compete.
Copenhagenize Design Co.2020-montreal-02-GALLERY
Montreal, #20. The city continues to impress, despite slipping in the rankings. A strong gender split—unusual for North America—and stretches of decent infrastructure with impressive numbers of cyclists using them each day keep Montréal’s baseline firm. A great bike share system and consistent advocacy adds to the cocktail.
