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Tag Archives: Cycling

Using open data to plan NYC bike share system

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May 21, 2012
Cities, Cycling, Mobility, Open data, Public Realm
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Welcome back to Gehl Institute’s partnership with Untapped Cities in New York, looking at the impact of data, both open and collected, in the design of cities.

On March 7, New York City became the first local government to pass legislation ensuring public access to data. The passing of the bill symbolizes a political embrace of the “open” culture already underway in New York City’s “Silicon Alley.”  City agencies and non-profit organizations in New York are making new correlations between urban conditions and social phenomenon, utilizing crowdsourcing and open data, to support traditional methods of data analysis.

Open Plans, a New York-based non-profit organization with a focus on transportation and urban planning, is an example of such a progressive group. The Open Plans team builds software which enables public agencies and non-profit organizations to crowdsource input from the community. You may recognize their work with New York City’s Department of Transportation’s interactive bike station suggestion map from this past year. In its decade of existence, Open Plans developed open source projects which include OpenGeo, Streetfilms, Streetsblog, GothamSchools, Civic Commons and OpenTripPlanner. According to the non-profit, all the tools serve to facilitate open source software, information transparency and progressive transportation planning.

Recently, Open Plans co-hosted a panel at the American Planning Association (APA) Conference in Los Angeles with Denver-based firm Place Matters, highlighting the challenges to come as we navigate amidst a constant and sometimes overwhelming flow of data. Important questions loom: How do we make sense of the data? With limited resources, should companies focus on making the quality of data better or the analysis tools better?

Publicly submitted requests for bike share stations in NYC

In partnership with Open Plans, the NYC Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) has also embraced this trend towards a more “open” culture by utilizing crowd-sourced information to plan station locations for the soon-to-be-launched Citibank bike share program. Bicycle commuting has increased in the city (35% from 2007 to 2008), but there are still significant challenges associated with bike ridership, including access. The collected crowd-sourced data, submitted via an interactive map on the NYCDOT website, allowed the public to suggest bike share stations for the rollout.

To read the full article visit Untapped Cities

Bogotá for Bogotanos

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May 9, 2012
Mobility
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Last week David and I travelled to Bogotá for the second time to collaborate with the World Bank on a scoping workshop. Throughout the four-day process, we meet and worked with various secretariats, including habitat, planning and mobility on imagining the future of the ‘7a’ avenue, one of the most prominent and historic arteries of the city.

The ‘7a’ project is being lead by the Secretariat of Habitat, under the wing of their ‘Taller de la Ciudad’ or ‘City Lab’. Their aim is to revitalise parts of the city centre beginning by enhancing public life, easing movement and increasing security. The ‘Taller de la Ciudad’ has identified 15 nodes along the 7a where they plan to trial pilot projects. Later this year, they will launch an international ideas competition to help gather innovative ideas for the 15 nodes.

The ‘City Lab’ team has already begun their first pilot between the 19th and 26th streets of the ‘7a’ – cars have been re-routed and the road re-distributed to include space for pedestrians, cyclists and service vehicles. Although it is being pitched to users as a pedestrian street, it seems like the opportunity is much bigger and linked to the current mayor’s slogan – Bogotá Humana (Human Bogotá). The planned initiatives along the ‘7a’ translate into projects that are about making an already incredible and inspiring city into a place that exhilarates our senses by smartly transforming them into destinations, experiences, hubs, and magnetic centers that offer the best of city life to every citizen.

7a avenue pilot

Towards a human-centered Bogotá

Standing and observing the altered flows between the 19th and 26th we were struck by the lack of clarity and conflict between users despite the delineated spaces. There appeared to be very little natural propensity to follow the painted lanes and no alliance between pedestrians and cyclists. It left us wondering how Bogotanos can be moved towards and inspired to respond to something that is entirely new? Does this type of lane segregation and order suit the culture? It seems like an incredible opportunity for both the secretariats and the citizens to investitage city-goer behaviour and to trial innovative urban solutions.

The exponential and ambitious transformations of Bogotá, such as Transmilenio BRT program and associated ‘hardware’ restructuring projects by Enrique Peñalosa, socially experimental and unorthodox ‘software’ approach by Antanas Mockus, have yet to be surpassed in fame or efficiency by successive administrations. These projects were, in thinking and finance a product of their time. Now it seems like a new, more dispersed and open city agenda is surfacing. One in which bottom up processes of small change that inspire participation, social connection and trust are developing, needing an understanding of the inter-play between the hard, and the soft infrastructures of the city. The pilot project shows that one size doesn’t fit all and that intelligent design must come from user and cultural understanding.

Main city centre plaza

MergeTransport planning and Design of Cities:Transurban Planning

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November 23, 2011
Mobility
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The Swedish Transport Administration invited Helle Søholt to contribute as Key Note speaker and to take part in the panel discussion at the seminar Think Future, Strategies for the transport-system of tomorrow, in Stockholm on the 8th of November.

The Swedish Transport Minister Catharina Elmsäter- Svärd opened the seminar, but with no references to the importance of urban areas, cities, towns and villages not to say the people using daily transport systems.

This was indeed the focus of Helle’s contribution to the future thinking of transport. The need to address a micro level of planning and not just the traditional macro level. The micro level where we understand the behavior of people and make transport networks that multiplies choice and quality of life for the individual. Cities that are walkable, bikeable and have a well developed public transport system are both more sustainable and much more lively and safe as a consequence of the people moving at eyelevel in the streets.

The Seminar aimed at providing an arena for dialogue on issues of strategic and long-term importance related to the further use and development of the Swedish transport system. One of several important policy tools to promote sustainable economic growth, at a time when global structural change of demography, economy and trade increases. The necessity of serious considerations to energy and climate change constraints where considered in the seminar.

Trafikverket is a new administration, comprising all modes of transport, and with the brave ambition of gaining a wider identity as not only contributing to the building of the society but a pro-active ”society developer”.

As the first national authority merging transport silos, we hope at Gehl Architects to see a more integrated thinking and approach also to city building and the need of people.

The discussions at the seminar were to serve as strategic input to the national transport policy-making process and influence future strategies and action plans in the National Assembly, the Ministries and the Administrations.

We are looking forward to see the results of integrated thinking in transport solutions contributing to improve cities for people in Sweden.

Thanks to an unusual fun day of transport discussions in Stockholm on old and new paradigms.

Helle Søholt was Key Note speaker at Think Future, Strategies for the transport-system of tomorrow, in Stockholm.

The following panel discussion at the seminar.

A changing New York state of mind

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June 8, 2011
Cycling, Heroes, News, Public Realm
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When I visited New York in January I was worried.  Central Park had just recorded another record snow and the life in the city seemed to resemble that of pre-2007 – the only cyclists were delivery men, and the hordes of pedestrians on the City’s lively streets were only moving from A to B rather than spending time in the dozens of new city plazas created over the past 4 years . Few people were taking the time to soak up the atmosphere of the city and few women and office workers were seen on their bikes. Despite widespread support for the Department of Transportation’s Green Light for Midtown and ReNEWable Times Square projects, the pressure was on city leaders to defend the changing face of New York’s public realm.  The issues of bicycle lanes had become especially contentious – being widely discussed and debated.

Yet when I visited NYC again in May – spring had truly made an impact.  The streets were filled with diverse cyclists –

young, old, women, men, tapered jeans and dockers, as well as locals and tourists were meeting and socializing in the new public spaces of the city. Tattooed hipsters were sharing the same spaces as top-sider wearing yuppies, mid-western tourists and lifelong New Yorkers were both glued to their ipads sitting in the free tables and chairs.

Quick business meetings and office tasks have moved out into the public realm

Alone together, hordes of New Yorkers were enjoying time in the City.  City life had transformed from a lifestyle of ‘A to B as quickly as possible’ to a more relaxed ‘enjoy the journey’ . The outdoor café life of Gansevoort had spread to the rest of the Meat Packing district – and beyond.  The streets of New York have begun to rival the City’s fantastic park’s as places to spend time in the city.

City life is unfolding from inside shops and cafes and out into streets and spaces

All forms of non-motorized transport are utilizing the new bicycle lanes

All forms of non-motorized transport are utilizing the new bicycle lanes

Why check e-mail inside when comfortable free seating is available along Broadway?

Rather your grabbing lunch, or just relaxing Mad. Sq. Eats Mark't is a great way to enjoy city life

From highly visible and meticulously designed projects like the High Line, to newly created temporary Madison Square Park Eats, the economic benefits of investing in the public realm and prioritizing the needs of people in the city are beginning to be understood.  In fact, the High Line is heralded as an Economic Dynamo – creating thousands of jobs, boosting real estate values and spurring private investment.

The newly created food market at Worth Square showcases independent food artisans. With fantastic views, great subway access and close proximity to Madison Square Park, it is surprising that Worth Square was never utilized before.

As I noticed that the number of baby carriages had begun to compete with the number of leashed dogs, I realized that the city was again re-inventing itself.  This time not only as a place to get rich, inspire the next Jay-Z, and visit as a tourist -  but also a place to spend free time, feel healthy, and raise a family.   The culture of New York City is changing.

New York City has always been a great place to raise a family, but it seems that even more young families are spending time in the city's streets as well as parks.

After years of smaller west coast cities leading the charge toward high quality  urban living, the Big Apple is back.  NYC is again leading the charge of American cities into the second decade of the 21st century.  It’s about quality of life, mobility, and happiness. It’s about a sustainable future, but also a livable today.   New Yorkers get it and now they have the platform to again lead the charge.

Old and young, male and female, the profile of the New York Cyclist is expanding.

Old and young, male and female, the profile of the New York Cyclist is expanding.

Part of the reason more and different types of people are biking has to do with new amenities that improve the comfort and convenience of cycling in NYC

…. Now if that bikes on the subway issue can just be simplified

Cycling with David Byrne in New York City

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January 13, 2011
Books, Cities, Cycling
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Amazing! Here we thought, that Gehl Architects experience in India was singular when it comes to the way in which people feel forced to walk in the streets rather than on the sidewalks and thus adding to a totally chaotic traffic situation. But follow David Byrne, wearing a helmet cam, on his bicycle trip around 42nd Street in New York City. And compare with our footage from Chennai in India: It is the same! People use the streets for walking rather than the sidewalks. Here it is not because of the poor condition of the sidewalk, but because of pedestrian congestion due to the bad match between the scale of the sidewalk and the amount of people passing along. And notice how this is a point that the good David Byrne is missing. He seems to blame the pedestrians for it and in this case comes out as a not-so-friendly cyclist.

But he is a friendly cyclist. And testimony to this is his brilliant 2009 book, Bicycle Diaries, where he tracks bicycle experiences from cities around the world. Recommendable, entertaining and engaging.

City cycling in India

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January 12, 2011
Cities, Cycling, News
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The online edition of Mint business newspaper, Indian partner of the Wall Street Journal, recently featured an article on city cycling in India. Gehl Architects Henning Thomsen was one of the experts being interviewed.

Read the article below and also see the film Gehl Architects recorded during our recent visit to Chennai here:

Are New York’s Bike Lanes Working?

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January 5, 2011
Cities, Cycling
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November 1980: Riders protesting Mayor Koch's decision to give up on the bicycle lanes he had earlier embraced. (John Sotmayor/The New York Times)

The New York Times, on its Opinion Pages, is hosting a debate on the bike lanes in New York.

“As new bicycle lanes appear all over New York City, the opposition to them has become more vocal. City officials and cycling advocates say that the expanded network has already proved successful,increasing riders’ safety while promoting a greener means of urban transportation. Opponents complain about the loss of parking and unloading space, as well as constricted traffic. They hope the lanes go the way of the ones in the early 1980′s, though former Mayor Edward Koch, who oversaw their brief life back then, said that this time they might succeed because the city is putting far more investment into making them work.”

Go to Are New York’s bike lanes working? and click on the various debaters opinion entries to the left on the page you get to.

Cycling in the snow – better get ready ’cause its comin’ back!

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December 15, 2010
Cycling
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Cycling in snow on Sønder Boulevard, Vesterbro, Copenhagen

We have turned on the snow theme here on our blog in celebration of the festive yule-tide and here are some small film about cycling in the snow in Copenhagen.

These films are from about a year ago, but don’t worry, in a few days it once again is gonna look as bad/good as this here in Copenhagen.

On being a cyclist in Chennai, India

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December 13, 2010
Cities, Cycling
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Cycling in Chennai - a daring adventure.

What is cycling like around world? We chose Chennai in India as our first stop on Gehl Architects new adventure: Cycling in Cities. Take a look at this trip around T-Nagar and Panagal Park, the major shopping area, in Chennai. Henning Thomsen of Gehl Architects is wearing the helmetcam on this trip.

Please allow the film to load.

Henning Thomsen, Gehl Architects, in Chennai on Mahesh Radhakrishnan's bicycle, and wearing the helmet cam.

Also check some of our pictures from the trip:

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