Dreams On Wheels

During my many meetings with foreign visitors I am often confronted by the same question: “What is the secret of Danish cycle culture and how do we learn it?”

A simple question which takes a number of second thoughts to answer. One thing is that Denmark isn’t a paradise for cyclists. It’s so windy that a world-famous wind turbine industry has grown rapidly thanks to a well-based home market. And Danish cities are not as densely populated as in Holland, where 2-3 people live in the same space as one Dane. So even though our cities are rather flat, we do have much longer distances to cope with than the Dutch. In general there’s a limit of 25 minutes in each direction to and from work where most people are willing to consider cycling as an option. This often equates to 7-8 kilometres, and our major cities are much more spread out than that.

This is why green waves and lots of priority projects for cyclists have been implemented in some of the most cycle-friendly cities like Odense and Copenhagen - to enlarge the catchment area for potential cyclists.

Another issue is our informal clothing - even in banks, ties aren’t always required and sporty clothing is widely accepted for daily use. Showers are possible in many workplaces - otherwise a clean T-shirt will do in most cases.

We all cycle and almost everyone has a bike. Theft is a widespread problem - but statistics say that you may wait for 30 years to get your bike stolen. And in some cases it’s your own fault because you didn’t lock it well enough. Our basic insurance always covers bike theft, and someone could see this as an opportunity to get a new bike…

So is all this the secret of Danish cycle culture? - no, not quite. Similar Danish cities vary widely in their proportion of cyclists - some have double that of others. The reasons are many: a lack of local cycle policy and cycle promotion, car-oriented traffic planning, too easy access to car parking and no official high status for cycling. So cycle culture is what you make it - even though we do have a fine basis for cycling, Great Britain should have just as many cycle trips per capita as we have - but that’s another story!

by Troels Andersen, Cycling Consultant to the City of Odense

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On 26th March 2009, the Danish Ambassador to Latvia Uffe Wolffhechel and the President of Latvia Valdis Zatlers marked the opening of the exhibition Dreams on Wheels with a bicycle ride through the old quarter of the city of Riga. They were followed by a long procession of cycling citizens and a pack of running photographers.

The exhibition, arranged by the Embassy in close cooperation with the Danish Cultural Institute, is on show at the Riga Museum of Foreign Arts. The museum is located at Riga Castle along with the President’s office. So it was only natural to invite the President to actively participate in the opening, thereby marking the green profile of Latvia.

The bicycle ride ended at Riga Castle where the exhibition was opened at a well-attended reception. In his opening speech, Ambassador Wolffhechel underlined the value of the bicycle as a CO2-neutral means of transport. He was pleased that so many Latvians, including the President, showed such great interest in the exhibition, especially in the run-up to the UN Climate Change Conference, COP15, which will take place in Copenhagen later this year.

In his address, President Zatlers praised the cyclists of Riga for their contribution to the protection of the environment, but also expressed awareness that a more extensive use of bicycles as a means of transport would require investment in bicycle lanes.

Both the exhibition and the President’s bicycle ride have achieved massive media coverage in both printed and electronic Latvian media.

The exhibition, which has been shown in cities around the globe, illustrates Danish cycling culture and shows how to design infrastructure with a view to promoting cycling. Besides a comprehensive collection of photos and posters, a variety of bicycles are displayed. These range from the ordinary to the more curious kinds.

The exhibition can be seen at Riga Castle, Pils Square 3, in the period from 26th of March to 25th of April 2009, from 11:00am to 5:00pm. Monday closed.

As a follow-up to the exhibition, the Embassy and the Danish Cultural Institute will host a seminar on the 16th of April 2009. The theme of the seminar will be how to facilitate the use of bicycles through Urban Planning.

Press release from Embassy of Denmark, Riga of the 31 March 2009

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