Klaus Bondam made a recorded address to the audience explaining the benefits of having a strong cycling policy in place and what the next targets for copenhagen would be. in short, Copenhagen plans to have 50% of its commuting by bike in 2015, up from around 35% today. ambitious but far from impossible...
The bicycle in our climate change era could be regarded as a Trojan Horse for Sustainability. In other words, it can insidiously infiltrate people's subconscious ambition to become climate-friendly. By the inhabitants behaving in such a way, the city and urban spaces could become more sustainable in terms of transportation, but even more so in terms of quality of life and life style..
Jan Gehl's urban quality firm GEHL ARCHITECTS is the world's leading urban space planning company when we talk about developing a lifestyle that is enjoyable and healthy for inhabitants and businesses alike. With 40 years of practice, the company has amongst many other cities now transformed Copenhagen's city center into a bustling and lively pedestrian strip where shopping and...
In May 2009 Denmark’s Ambassador to Japan, Franz-Michael Skjold Mellbin, set out on a cycling tour covering 9 Japanese cities. He asked ordinary Japanese people to join him and together they would send a message to Danish Climate Minister Connie Hedegaard with the hope of a good result at the UN Climate Conference later this year in Copenhagen. The Tour was called: “COP15 Cycling Tour” and 3,000 Japanese people joined the Tour.
The bicycle was an obvious choice as catalyst for gathering support for this message. It is environmentally friendly and contributes to alleviating already overburdened city infrastructures.
So, the bike sends a green message, but there is much more to it than that. Cycling is also a fast and practical means of transportation, it’s healthy, and recently it’s considered cool and trendy.
The Dreams on Wheels exhibition followed the Tour around to three different locations – Tokyo, Fukushima and Kyoto – and it undoubtedly hit nerve among Japanese people: Many nodded their way through the explanations of Danish city planning and infrastructure. The lyrical cycle-quotes by famous people sparked smiles and laughter, but the photos were truly surprising to many. Traffic lights for bicycles, bike lanes, and cargo bikes are new to most people and impressed many, whereas photos of people biking through rain and blizzards are just too far out: Those Danes are Crazy!
Well, we probably are, and on top that most of us Danes are oblivious of that fact that our cycling culture is rather unique; we just want to get from point A to B. Simple as that.
The combination of the COP15 Cycling Tour and Dreams on Wheels presented a complicated message to the Japanese people in a down to earth fashion: It is important to get a good result at COP15 in Copenhagen. Cycling is one way of achieving this. Look to Denmark for inspiration!
For more information, please have a look at the homepage COP15 Japan.
Press release from Embassy of Denmark, Japan of the 8 June 2026