Page 275 - Çevre Şehir İklim İngilizce - Sayı 3

Cihan Erçetin

were developed for safe urban planning. In 1973, when oil prices doubled 4
times in the Netherlands, the then Prime Minister declared all Dutch citizens
about his policies aimed at the need for a transition to a new lifestyle focused
on energy conservation. Firstly, launching of “Car-free Sunday” campaign
revealed the advantages of pedestrian-oriented cycling on weekends and
bicycle-friendly street applications were started to be developed starting
from early 1980s (Zee, 2017; Buehler and Pucher, 2010). Figure 2 shows the
distribution of cycling routes in Amsterdam.

Figure 2. Cycling Routes in Amsterdam (Google, 2022a)

Today, Amsterdam is one of the pioneering cities in the world where bicycles
are used as a means of urban transportation. The main interventions for
bicycle transportation are the establishment of an urban cycling network, the
integration of cycling with public transportation, the introduction of national
bicycle usage standards and rules, giving priority to cyclists in traffic with
smart applications, the effective design of bicycle parking spaces and raising
awareness on behavior change (Vanderstraeten and Dotter, 2022). When the
modal distribution of the city is examined, 20% of urban trips are made by
private vehicle, 32% by bicycle, 17% by public transport, 29% by walking and
2% by other modes (Deloitte, 2018).

• Copenhagen
Another prominent city regarded as the cycling capital of the world is
Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. In Copenhagen, bicycles are actively
used by various age groups throughout the city as a means of transportation
at all hours regardless of weather conditions.
Nowadays, at peak hours, opposite to the congestion of cars on the roads
of other car-oriented cities in the world, it is possible to see the crowds created
by cyclists on the roads in Copenhagen. In this city where bicycles were started

260 Journal of Environment, Urbanization and Climate