An interview with Mikael Colville-Andersen

Mikael Colville-Andersen has been dubbed the ‘rock star of urbanism’, 'the modern day Jane Jacobs' and the man who 'launched a million bicycles’. Simply, he’s a dude who loves moving around his city by foot and by bike, and he wants people across the globe to share that same enjoyment.

I recently chatted with Mikael about Copenhagenize Design Company, how neighbourhoods can become more people-oriented, and the current progress towards - what he calls - 'life-sized cities', across both the northern and southern hemispheres.

A few insights from his work around the globe include:

"Cities in China... they embraced the automobile over the past 15 years and now they're paying the price for that. Now Shanghai is putting in Copenhagen-style cycle-tracks. The Chinese can do that."
"India... they still don't know what they're doing."
"When you have Paris just in the course of 12 years... putting in infrastructure, bike share, traffic calming, taking out some expressways along the river. There's people who are doing it and as soon as you have a big city doing it - other cities will follow."
"Australian cities are farther behind than any other city in the industrialised world... When there are American cities ahead of you in terms of bicycle infrastructure - you suck. You suck really bad!"

Giving us some idea about what's in store for the future, Mikael tells us that he will soon be heading back into the world of film making. This time however, he has a message to spread. And this time, he will be on the other side of the lens.

Check out the full interview below.

Great design? I’ll drink to that.

I got pretty drunk last night. Heading home from an amazing a concert at Somerset House, a friend and I cruised about looking for a final nightcap. Finally, looking through some large windows we seemed to find what looked to be a pretty jovial little establishment. Perfect.

I don’t typically drink in central, nor do I typically drink in the type of place that sells a drink called ‘corn dog smash’ or ‘damson in distress’, but I’ve got to say, this place may have converted me. Put simply, I was absolutely blown away by the beautiful interiors of this place. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not a design expert. I could probably count the number of times I’ve even noticed nice interiors, let alone wanted to write about them.

I’m generally not a big fan of large-scale hospitality chains. This is for two reasons; firstly, they tend to swallow up local business, and secondly, they all look and feel the same.

Justin Hemmes’ bars across Sydney are a perfect example of how one man can profit on the processes of gentrification, while at the same time sterilizing a long history of unique and interesting drinking venues. While he tries to make each of his bars feel different, in reality it kind of feels like walking into an IKEA catalogue. As far as I’m concerned, they were much more interesting with beer stained carpets.

I noticed last night was something a little different. While I guess you could say that the The Happenstance Bar was ‘kitchy’, it definitely hadn’t used ‘cookie-cutter’ design techniques.

Industrial steels, reclaimed timber floors, pendant lights and a refined colour scheme, the place had a particularly distinct character that made it look, well… really, really cool. Don't get me wrong; it wasn’t the sort of pretentious high-design venue with expensive drinks and uncomfortable chairs. It was astonishingly stylish, incredible comfortable and considering it was sitting next to St Paul’s, the drinks were nicely priced.

This got me thinking. Over the past decade or so we seem to have seen a general cheapening of graphic design, photography, interiors and architecture as people save costs by using in-house multifaceted designers or deploy faster methods of design. Last night revealed to me that perhaps rather from being dead, good quality design is making a comeback.

People are becoming bored with the stock-standard. We’re seeing cafes like Starbucks face boycotts, we’re seeing a return to localism and place making and now, perhaps, a return to beautiful buildings and interiors.

I was also impressed to discover that Drake and Morgan had contracted smaller, local firms Fusion and Architecture Ltd for the design of The Happenstance.

Who’d have thought that my night of drinking not only converted me to some sort of interiors fanatic, ‘damson in distress’ drinker, but now I’m also applauding a large hospitality group… At the end of the day, it’s important to give credit, where credit is due.

Good design doesn't need to be expensive; it just needs to be holistic and thoughtful. Will other venues follow the lead? Will good quality design making a comeback?

I, for one, truly hope so.

Cycling Superhighways Take Off

LA's 1892 private Cycling Superhighway. Source: Motherboard

Cycling superhighways are nothing new. Even LA, one of the most congested, car-dominated cities in the world had schemes to implement this idea all the way back in the 1890s. The idea is simple. A Cycling Superhighway is a cycle path wide enough and safe enough for everyone, regardless of age, gender, physical ability or cycling skills, to be able wherever they want and whenever they want. Different to the Dutch-style segregated lanes that are popping up in inner areas of NYC, London and Sydney, Superhighways act to transport high capacities of people moving at different speeds, into the inner city. Much like an arterial road serves a collector road, a Cycling Superhighway serves a lower capacity traditional bike path.

One of London's new Barclays Superhighways. Source: London24

The Netherlands and Denmark have adopted Superhighways in a big way, and now the trend seems to be spreading global. London has been hard at work installing the first of 12 Barclays Superhighways, and has recently just unveiled its 15 miles (24 km) “Bicycle Crossrail”. Similarly, Bogota in Colombia has created the CicloRuta, a 300 km network of 3-4 metre wide bi-directional protected cycles highways across the city, linking with pedestrian boulevards.

Resistance to Cycle Superhighways has been fierce in London, but its benefits are unquestionable. Not only do they improve the health of commuters and provide relief in congestion on roads, but they also provide relief to high-capacity rail networks. London's first Superhighway was installed to relive congestion on the Tube's Northern Line. In addition to all of this, research has demonstrated that cycle paths not only increase the value of adjacent houses, but also local business trade. It’s no wonder local authorities are trying to see how they can adopt this model as quickly as possible.

One of the many Cycling Superhighways in Copenhagen. Source: Creative Commons: Flickr/grapfapan

Would free internet on public transport keep you happy?

On recent visits to European cities I'm now seeing far more of something than I did two or three years ago. That something is free internet on public transport, from wifi on buses in Copenhagen to wifi on the London underground. This is mainly a product of our increasingly digital lives and the desire to be 'connected' at all times. People want to be able to use their commute time to do business, email colleagues, connect with friends via social media, or just be entertained with videos, music and other media. But does this mean it should be free? Does the City have an obligation to provide this service for commuters? If so, why not just go all out and provide free public transport? (This seems a slightly absurd idea, but it's actually something currently being trialled in Tallinn, Estonia). What does the City gain from a scheme like this?

Free bus internet, Copenhagen - Image courtesy of Billy Haworth

There is probably an argument for the environment and climate change, with cities wanting to reduce the impact of auto-mobiles. But researching a little into the cities providing this service leads to the conclusion that the main drive behind free internet on public transport is customer satisfaction. Trials, surveys and pilot programs have been undertaken in a number of cities (E.g. Lisbon, Rome, Copenhagen, Dublin) with results all emphasising the need to improve passenger's travel perception.

Scotland's Transport Minister said of Scotland's train wifi program:
“A major challenge for the transport industry is embracing new technologies to meet the demands of passengers and help them get on with their ever more busy lives while travelling. It is essential that people throughout Scotland have online access to enable our economy to thrive".

Danish rail company DSB state that free internet allows the train driver to continuously monitor various aspects of the trains performance and passengers to log on using laptops and smart phones, but outline being able to provide passengers with up to date information as the most beneficial outcome:
"The state-owned rail operator decided to equip all metropolitan S-trains in Denmark’s capital Copenhagen with wireless internet after a study revealed that real-time traffic information was the number one request among its daily 220,000 passengers".

rom the City's point of view it seems the main reason for free internet on public transport is to keep the citizens happy, and isn't that the City's main obligation? Perhaps with our modern digital lifestyle's free internet should be provided by the City. I'm not willing to go as far as saying it's their obligation, but I do think this trend will continue and more cities will be expected to offer free public transport wifi to keep their citizens 'happy'. Although, it seems this isn't what every citizen wants, and I'll leave you now with a quote from an online-commenter on Scotland's railway internet.

"Is there no escape. First it was idiots barking in brick-sized cellphjones in the 80s, then phones beep beeping all the time as TTTXXTTSS were snt 2 ol nd sndry ol t bldy tm, now we have computers being tap tapped, music played on them and always more noise. long haul flights used to be an oasis of calm but now they can use their phones and computers you might as well be at work. take a seat, look out the window, read the paper, chat to your fellow passengers, never mind Twitterbook, Face thingy or any of that antisocial netowrk rubbish, GET A LIFE"

Snapshot of the Bicycle Renaissance

Boris Johnson. Mayor and cyclist. Source: Press Association

Bikes are the talk of the town these days, and for good reason. Their renewed surge in popularity has been immense. The number of commuter cyclists in NYC has doubled over the last five years; Italy has recently recorded that bike sales have surpassed car sales for the first time since WWII; and for the first time in decades, a London borough (Hackney) has recorded that more people cycle to work (15%) than drive (12%). But this isn’t all just a fad. To prove my point, I’d like to give you a brief snapshot of some of the amazing things happening across the globe in terms of bicycle infrastructure…

Since you’re reading the Europe section of Trending City, I’d better start with the UK…

London mayor Boris Johnson last week announced that the city will invest about £1 billion into cycling infrastructure over the next decade (with most being spent in the next few years). Yep, £1 billion! That’s a lot of money. So what’s actually happening? In addition to further investment into the Barclays Bikes Scheme (‘Boris Bikes’), 80,000 new cycle parking spaces are to be added, new cycle routes will be built, public pumps will be installed, junctions will be redesigned and signage improved. And perhaps the most exciting thing in my opinion is investment into new Cycle Superhighways, similar to those in Copenhagen. These will not only give cyclists the opportunity to cover large distances at fast speeds without the hassle of private vehicle congestion, but will also help link up some of London’s more deprived outer boroughs into the inner city cycling network.

The Hangzhou Scheme has taken off in a big way. Source: HZZXC

When I used to think of the United States, I’d think of the most car-dominated, sprawled and un-cycle-friendly streets in the world. But that perception too seems to be changing. New data from the Dept of Transportation has revealed that the number of people riding to work has increased by about 40% over the last decade alongside large investments into cycling infrastructure by both the Federal government and local authorities. Between 2007 and late 2011 over 350 kilometres of bikes lanes were been built in NYC. Although contested (parking, access for the elderly, pedestrian safety, cycle speeds, etc), these lanes mark a massive shift in culture towards a new cycling culture within the city. And it doesn’t look to be slowing; the Citigroup bike share scheme set to open next month will include 600 docking stations across the city.

Although once the “bicycle kingdom”, when most news sources report on mobility in Chinese cities, it’s all about rising congestion due to the growing dominance of the car. But in truth, most Chinese cities still have very high rates of cycling by world standards. And rather than rushing for a petrol-addiction as many western nations did in the 60s, it appears that China could actually, once again, be falling in love with the bike. Not only is it once again fashionable to ride a bike in Chinese cities, but China’s new bike share programs are now the largest in the world. The Hangzhou Program is expected to increase from 2,800 bikes in 2008 to 175,000 by 2020.

And now, let’s take a look at what’s happening in Australia. Following the US model for sprawled cities and car dominance, Australia has had required the help of some bold politicians to get the ball (...or wheel) rolling. Sydney’s Clover Moore has been highly proactive by building a new cycling network, as well as investing heavily into a marketing campaign to get people on two wheels. The process to alter dangerous road networks has seen some great infrastructure planning from both the public and private sectors. Landscape architecture firm Spackman Mossop and Michaels have given us a look at some of their really inspiring recent projects, which you can check out here. While helmet laws are holding back bike sharing systems in many Australian cities, Melbourne and Brisbane have taken the leap to show that the massive growth in bike sharing, is not just a northern hemisphere trend.

This quick glimpse at what’s happening around the world, proves that the latest cycling movement is not all just about hipsters on fixies. Rather, it’s all part of a much more long-term global move to create more sustainable and efficient urban areas. So, with that said, ride on!