Copenhagen’s 10 steps to a pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly city
July 30th, 2007,I stumbled across this nice list from Metropolismag.com. I’ve included the headings only, so see the first link for more complete descriptions of each step.
COPENHAGEN’S 10-STEP PROGRAM
1. Convert streets into pedestrian thoroughfares.
2. Reduce traffic and parking gradually.
3. Turn parking lots into public squares.
4. Keep scale dense and low.
5. Honor the human scale.
6. Populate the core.
7. Encourage student living.
8. Adapt the cityscape to changing seasons.
9. Promote cycling as a major mode of transportation.
10. Make bicycles available.
July 31st, 2007 at 1:49 pm
That’s a great list. I especially like two of them that seem especially suited to Northfield:
5. Honor the human scale.
The city’s modest scale and street grid make walking a pleasant experience; its historic buildings, with their stoops, awnings, and doorways, provide people with impromptu places to stand and sit.
8. Adapt the cityscape to changing seasons.
Outdoor cafés, public squares, and street performers attract thousands in the summer; skating rinks, heated benches, and gaslit heaters on street corners make winters in the city center enjoyable.
Number 9 - “Promote cycling as a major mode of transportation” - is also a good one, of course. The real genius of Copenhagen’s approach is the holism, trying to link aspects of the urban experience that otherwise might be disjointed - streetside seating and cycle lanes, for instance.
August 1st, 2007 at 9:30 am
Good points, Christopher. I’ve not been to Copenhagen, so can’t speak from direct experience.
The key for a smaller town like Northfield is deciding what changes fit with its culture, as well as what changes nudge that culture more in the direction of a place like Copenhagen.
There are powerful forces pushing us towards a different future, of course - a strip-mall, auto-dependent culture where people are more isolated from one another.
That said, strip malls can be integrated into a city in beneficial and aesthetically pleasing ways. But beware of providing too much free parking. See the book “The High Cost of Free Parking.” http://www.planning.org/APAStore/Search/Default.aspx?p=1814