Copenhagen, bikes, Christiana

The trip to Copenhagen was a success despite the fact that, due to technicalities, I was not able to get the student discount on my train tickets, and ended up paying about double what I expected. When I found out at the ticket booth, I almost changed my mind about the whole thing, but rationalized it as "worth it to see my sister". It was pretty annoying then to find out that they had been planning to come by here next weekend anyway.

Now I have a few other rationalizations:

• The train ride finally gave me enough time to finish a book I had been pecking away at for too long.
• I got to see Copenhagen before leaving Scandinavia.
• In Copenhagen, I had a chance to hear about their pretty amazing bicycle commuter infrastructure.
• I got to see a very interesting portion of Copenhagen called Christiana, which I had no idea existed, and is actually related somewhat to the book I finished on the train, in that it is a self-organizing community.
• It was a really beautiful day and if I had stayed home I would have probably spent it inside playing with the computer.

What's that you say? you want me to elaborate more on each of these points? Well.... if you say so.

The train ride finally gave me enough time to finish a book I had been pecking away at for too long.

I have been reading Critical Mass, a book about applying what we know about physics to what we want to know about the workings of society. It has taken me a while partly because I have been too busy to finish it recently, but also because his writing style is a little less "catchy" than some of the other recent easy-to-read books about similar topics, such as The Tipping Point, and Wisdom of Crowds. It is however, much more informative.

He touches on a number of subjects: Self-organization, phase transitions (tipping points), emergence, chaos theory, the power-law, game theory, and more. These are all things I have just been hearing and reading about bit by bit in the past few years, but this book was really great in helping me to connect the dots.

My main takeaway though was that yes, there are certain characteristics that we can see in nature and society, such as self organizing and theoretical "best strategies" in game theory, but ultimately, it is up to us to create the context of the game. These theories are perhaps natural tendencies, and it is imperative that we understand them, but it does not mean that it is the "way it should be".

I got to see Copenhagen before leaving Scandinavia.

Until Tuesday, I had only ventured about a half hour from the station.

In Copenhagen, I had a chance to hear about their pretty amazing bicycle commuter infrastructure.

Copenhagen was nicer than I expected, thought that may simply be due to the fact that it was the first day this year nice enough to ride bikes in a t-shirt. What was really great though was hearing the bike commuter story from a local planner involved in it (many thanks to Jess for organizing it!)

It was truly amazing to see so many people biking, and the way the bike lanes were so integrated with the road system. And, like last time I met with city planners, I tingled with excitement when I heard how they made small changes the built environment to encourage favorable behavior. I repeat, they must feel like gods.

Just some key figures out of their biannual Bicycle Account progress report.

• The proportion of the workforce that cycle to workplaces in Copenhagen is now 32%. This is a slight decrease in relation to the previous Bicycle Account. The target goal is that 40% shall bike to work.
• Bicycle traffic has increased by 6% so that 1 million km are now cycled in Copenhagen every day.
• Motor traffic has only increased by 1%.
• The number of km of cycle track has increased by 16 km and is now 323 km.
• The number of km of cycle lane has increased by 2 km and is now 12 km.
• The length of green cycle routes has increased by 1 km and is now 32 km.
• The figure for serious cyclist casualties has risen by 4 so that in 2002 172 cyclists were seriously injured. (Kevins Note: AMAZING considering how many cyclists they have!!!)
• Cyclist risk is now 0.46 serious casualties per 1 million cycle kilometers. The trend that took place throughout the 1990s, already reducing cyclist risk by half, continues although the decrease is a only minor one (4%). The target goal is a 50% reduction by 2012.
• 56% of cyclists feel secure cycling in Copenhagen traffic. There was no apparent change for the better. Work is being done to ensure that a full 80% feel secure by 2012.
• Cycling speed on trips of over 5 km shall be improved by 10% by 2012.(Kevin's Note: This is to be achieved by making improvements to the infrastructure, not encouraging people to "pedal faster")
• The target goal that unsatisfactory cycle track surfaces shall not exceed 5% was attained in 2002.

So what's wrong with the US and Japan? Why can't this be done there as well? Unfortunately, the planner admitted that most of the success of the Copenhagen bicycle system has to do with the fact that Copenhagen's have been exceptionally fond of their bicycles for over one-hundred years. This is not just a "movement" they started recently, rather, it is built on a solid foundation of bicycle riding-ness.

I got to see a very interesting portion of Copenhagen called Freetown, Christiana, which I had certainly never heard of, and is actually related somewhat to the book I finished on the train, in that it is a self-organizing community.

Really interesting. A little scary, and rude (they wouldn't let me take photos, but the photos on this post are all from Christiana) but really interesting.

History of Christiana

In 1971, when a swarm of hippies, squatters and political activists invaded an abandoned military base in the heart of Copenhagen, and dubbed it the Free Town of Christiania, few Danes believed the community would still exist today. Read more...