Amsterdam awarded 'Most bicycle-friendly city' title
The inaugural Copenhagenize Index has officially recognised Amsterdam as the world’s most bicycle-friendly city. With an impressive score of 54 points, it beat off competition from Copenhagen, Barcelona and Tokyo to top the list.
The index
The Copenhagenize Index was established by Copenhagenize Consulting. The company wanted to discover which cities are most suited to urban cycling and are truly the most bicycle friendly. Over a six month period, they gathered information and statistics from 80 major cities.
The index was originally meant for internal company use, but Copenhagenize Consulting quickly realised that it may be of global interest.
Points
The index awards points for effort (or lack thereof) across 13 categories. Cities were given between 0 and 4 points in each of the categories, with a potential 12 bonus points awarded for ‘particularly impressive efforts or results’. Out of a maximum of 64 points, Amsterdam came away with an outstanding 54.
The 13 categories
Each category posed a key question and points were awarded after weighing up the results. The question in the ‘Advocacy’ category was: How is the city's (or region’s/country’s) advocacy NGO regarded, and what level of influence does it have? This was rated from ‘no organised advocacy’ to ‘strong advocacy with political influence'.
Other criteria included: Bicycle culture, bicycle facilities, bicycle infrastructure, gender split, the perception of safety, social acceptance and urban planning. For the full list of criteria, please consult the Copenhagenize Index website.
Pros and cons
The index concluded that ‘along with the necessities like infrastructure and facilities, (Amsterdam) has outstanding advocacy, both political and non-political. The cycling atmosphere is relaxed, enjoyable, and as mainstream as you can get. This is the one place on the planet where fear-mongering about cycling is non-existent and it shows.’
However, the index made some suggestions for improvement including more uniformity with regard to the appearance of cycle paths, removing the ‘terrorising scooters’ and a suggestion to ‘think bigger.’
It is a great achievement to top the leader board in this inaugural index, and confirms what many have thought for a long time - Amsterdam really is the most bike friendly city in the world.
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Amsterdam voted world's most bike-friendly capital
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