IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jotrge/v33y2013icp196-206.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Urban transport transitions: Copenhagen, City of Cyclists

Author

Listed:
  • Gössling, Stefan

Abstract

Mobility growth poses considerable challenges to city planners around the world, as it entails problems of congestion, air pollution, and accidents. Many cities have thus sought to increase the share of sustainable transport, and specifically travel by bicycle. However, it appears that measures to foster cycling are often implemented on an ad hoc basis, lacking strategic focus and a more profound understanding of bicycle cultures. New insights can be gained from Copenhagen, Denmark, a selfdeclared City of Cyclists that has made considerable progress towards increasing the share of travel by bicycle, with the political goal to become the “world’s best city for bicycling”. In this article, the success, reproducibility and limitations of the Copenhagen bicycle strategy are discussed in an urban transport transitions framework, based on a content- and discourse analysis of the city’s official documents to assess the respective role of market-based, command-and-control, and soft policy measures in encouraging bicycling. Results suggest that soft policies, integrated with command-and-control measures, and the consideration of bicyclist expectations and concerns with regard to perceptions of safety, speed and comfort have been key in achieving high bicycle trip shares. Integrating these in comprehensive planning frameworks appears to be an approach that is more likely to foster bicycle cultures that can result in urban transport transitions.

Suggested Citation

  • Gössling, Stefan, 2013. "Urban transport transitions: Copenhagen, City of Cyclists," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 196-206.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jotrge:v:33:y:2013:i:c:p:196-206
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2013.10.013
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0966692313002111
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2013.10.013?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Börjesson, Maria & Eliasson, Jonas & Hugosson, Muriel & Brundell-Freij, Karin, 2012. "The Stockholm congestion charges – five years on. Effects, acceptability and lessons learnt," Working papers in Transport Economics 2012:3, CTS - Centre for Transport Studies Stockholm (KTH and VTI).
    2. Sterner, Thomas, 2007. "Fuel taxes: An important instrument for climate policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(6), pages 3194-3202, June.
    3. Santos, Georgina & Behrendt, Hannah & Teytelboym, Alexander, 2010. "Part II: Policy instruments for sustainable road transport," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 46-91.
    4. Smith, Adrian & Stirling, Andy & Berkhout, Frans, 2005. "The governance of sustainable socio-technical transitions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(10), pages 1491-1510, December.
    5. Pucher, J. & Dijkstra, L., 2003. "Promoting Safe Walking and Cycling to Improve Public Health: Lessons from The Netherlands and Germany," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 93(9), pages 1509-1516.
    6. Anable, Jillian & Brand, Christian & Tran, Martino & Eyre, Nick, 2012. "Modelling transport energy demand: A socio-technical approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 125-138.
    7. David L. Greene & James R. Kahn & Robert C. Gibson, 1999. "Fuel Economy Rebound Effect for U.S. Household Vehicles," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 3), pages 1-31.
    8. Chatterjee, Kiron & Sherwin, Henrietta & Jain, Juliet, 2013. "Triggers for changes in cycling: the role of life events and modifications to the external environment," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 183-193.
    9. Xavier d’Haultfœuille & Isis Durrmeyer & Philippe Février, 2011. "Le coût du bonus/malus écologique. Que pouvait-on prédire ?," Revue économique, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 62(3), pages 491-499.
    10. van Duppen, Jan & Spierings, Bas, 2013. "Retracing trajectories: the embodied experience of cycling, urban sensescapes and the commute between ‘neighbourhood’ and ‘city’ in Utrecht, NL," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 234-243.
    11. John Allen, 2006. "Ambient Power: Berlin's Potsdamer Platz and the Seductive Logic of Public Spaces," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 43(2), pages 441-455, February.
    12. Jensen, Anne, 2013. "Controlling mobility, performing borderwork: cycle mobility in Copenhagen and the multiplication of boundaries," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 220-226.
    13. Stanley, John K. & Hensher, David A. & Loader, Chris, 2011. "Road transport and climate change: Stepping off the greenhouse gas," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 45(10), pages 1020-1030.
    14. Jones, Tim & Novo de Azevedo, Laura, 2013. "Economic, social and cultural transformation and the role of the bicycle in Brazil," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 208-219.
    15. S. Cairns & L. Sloman & C. Newson & J. Anable & A. Kirkbride & P. Goodwin, 2008. "Smarter Choices: Assessing the Potential to Achieve Traffic Reduction Using ‘Soft Measures’," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(5), pages 593-618, January.
    16. Bergström, A. & Magnusson, R., 2003. "Potential of transferring car trips to bicycle during winter," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 649-666, October.
    17. Rachel Aldred, 2013. "Incompetent or Too Competent? Negotiating Everyday Cycling Identities in a Motor Dominated Society," Mobilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(2), pages 252-271, May.
    18. David L. Greene & James R. Kahn & Robert C. Gibson, 1999. "Fuel Economy Rebound Effect for U.S. Household Vehicles," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 3), pages 1-31.
    19. Snizek, Bernhard & Sick Nielsen, Thomas Alexander & Skov-Petersen, Hans, 2013. "Mapping bicyclists’ experiences in Copenhagen," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 227-233.
    20. Dubois, Ghislain & Peeters, Paul & Ceron, Jean-Paul & Gössling, Stefan, 2011. "The future tourism mobility of the world population: Emission growth versus climate policy," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 45(10), pages 1031-1042.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gamble, Julie & Snizek, Bernhard & Nielsen, Thomas Sick, 2017. "From people to cycling indicators: Documenting and understanding the urban context of cyclists' experiences in Quito, Ecuador," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 167-177.
    2. Orea, Luis & Llorca, Manuel & Filippini, Massimo, 2015. "A new approach to measuring the rebound effect associated to energy efficiency improvements: An application to the US residential energy demand," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 599-609.
    3. Kromer, Matthew A. & Bandivadekar, Anup & Evans, Christopher, 2010. "Long-term greenhouse gas emission and petroleum reduction goals: Evolutionary pathways for the light-duty vehicle sector," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 387-397.
    4. O'Rear, Eric G. & Sarica, Kemal & Tyner, Wallace E., 2015. "Analysis of impacts of alternative policies aimed at increasing US energy independence and reducing GHG emissions," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 121-133.
    5. Gössling, Stefan & Cohen, Scott, 2014. "Why sustainable transport policies will fail: EU climate policy in the light of transport taboos," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 197-207.
    6. Brand, Christian & Anable, Jillian & Tran, Martino, 2013. "Accelerating the transformation to a low carbon passenger transport system: The role of car purchase taxes, feebates, road taxes and scrappage incentives in the UK," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 132-148.
    7. Richard Grimal, 2018. "Faut-Il Reduire L'Usage De La Voiture ? Couts Sociaux Et Benefices Environnementaux De Differents Scenarios Economiques Et Technologiques A L'Horizon 2060," Post-Print hal-02164869, HAL.
    8. Marquart, Heike & Schlink, Uwe & Ueberham, Maximilian, 2020. "The planned and the perceived city: A comparison of cyclists' and decision-makers' views on cycling quality," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    9. De Borger, Bruno & Mulalic, Ismir & Rouwendal, Jan, 2016. "Measuring the rebound effect with micro data: A first difference approach," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 1-17.
    10. Santos, Alberto & Maia, Pedro & Jacob, Rodrigo & Wei, Huang & Callegari, Camila & Oliveira Fiorini, Ana Carolina & Schaeffer, Roberto & Szklo, Alexandre, 2024. "Road conditions and driving patterns on fuel usage: Lessons from an emerging economy," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 295(C).
    11. Gössling, Stefan, 2016. "Urban transport justice," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 1-9.
    12. Parry, Ian & Portney, Paul & Harrington, Winston & Gruenspecht, Howard, 2003. "The Economics of Fuel Economy Standards," RFF Working Paper Series dp-03-44, Resources for the Future.
    13. Vandenbulcke, Grégory & Dujardin, Claire & Thomas, Isabelle & Geus, Bas de & Degraeuwe, Bart & Meeusen, Romain & Panis, Luc Int, 2011. "Cycle commuting in Belgium: Spatial determinants and 're-cycling' strategies," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 118-137, February.
    14. Alcott, Blake, 2008. "The sufficiency strategy: Would rich-world frugality lower environmental impact," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(4), pages 770-786, February.
    15. Carlos Gómez & C. Pérez-Blanco, 2014. "Simple Myths and Basic Maths About Greening Irrigation," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 28(12), pages 4035-4044, September.
    16. Pye, Steve & Daly, Hannah, 2015. "Modelling sustainable urban travel in a whole systems energy model," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 97-107.
    17. Paul R. Portney & Ian W.H. Parry & Howard K. Gruenspecht & Winston Harrington, 2003. "Policy Watch: The Economics of Fuel Economy Standards," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 17(4), pages 203-217, Fall.
    18. Rivers, Nicholas & Schaufele, Brandon, 2017. "Gasoline price and new vehicle fuel efficiency: Evidence from Canada," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 454-465.
    19. Rybarczyk, Greg & Gallagher, Laura, 2014. "Measuring the potential for bicycling and walking at a metropolitan commuter university," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 1-10.
    20. John Coglianese & Lucas W. Davis & Lutz Kilian & James H. Stock, 2017. "Anticipation, Tax Avoidance, and the Price Elasticity of Gasoline Demand," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(1), pages 1-15, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jotrge:v:33:y:2013:i:c:p:196-206. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-transport-geography .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.