Cycling is a prime example of sustainable transportation. Within the urban design realm, bicycles blend more flawlessly into pedestrian spaces in contrast with motorized vehicles, therefore encouraging a harmonious coexistence between pedestrians and cyclists (BBC;, 2020). Bicycles come in a compactible size making them ideal for navigating through densely populated urban spaces without interfering with the pedestrians’ experience. In contrast with vehicles, bicycles are energy-efficient, safe and carbon emission-free. Landscape Architects play a major role in designing bicycle and pedestrian-friendly cities. Some crucial stratagems they apply is allocating ample space in the right-of-way for bikes, reducing crossing distances for pedestrians and identifying desirable courses between prime destinations (Iniguez, 2023).
Natural and Place-Specific Preconditions
The natural and place-specific preconditions play a prime role in influencing the bike-friendliness of any urban context. Versatility is a crucial component of the design process. Cycling is largely simple and effortless in majority of the relatively flat landscapes (National Complete Streets Coalition;, 2023). Biking in elevated environments is laborious and avoiding steep hills would require lengthy detours. If a town is primarily self-sufficient with schools, houses, services and amenities, the travel time in key corridors would most likely be 3 to 5 kilometers. Moreover, if the buildings in such a neighborhood are designed to accommodate storage spaces for bikes, then the livability and social cohesiveness would be greatly enhanced (Hagen & Rynning, 2021).
Coffee and bikes at the TU Delft Campus is an excellent illustration of how pedestrians and cyclist seamlessly blend. This facility has a parking space that accommodates 2100 bikes. It also has a coffee shop and a bicycle workshop. Flexibility is a key component of its layout. The building is pleasant and approachable from all sides, thanks to the grass slope it sits on, which also helps to partially conceal the bikes from view. Coffee and bikes TU Delft is a cycling pavilion where people can easily gather and enjoy a nice stay since it has been developed as an all-sided building, offering a vast area facing the sun, and placing the coffee bar in an elongated shape on the square. A once-bare bicycle shed has been transformed into a well-liked location that improves the neighborhood’s livability and social cohesiveness (BBC;, 2020).
Infrastructure and Traffic
Inadequate bike storage and parking facilities discourage cyclists, hence to promote bike-ability there is necessity to provide high-standard parking spaces at prime destinations. Complementary bike services points such as maintenance workshops are vital. Additionally, locker rooms and showers at workplaces, schools and shopping centers are supportive (Luke & Pérez-Barbosa, 2021). A sustainable urban transportation system links cyclists to other multimodal travels. It ought to have high-quality bike access and bike parking at the nodal points and transits. An exceptional design of public transport nodal points should facilitate easy transfers from cycling to public transport. It should also consider the possibility to bring bikes on board to these public transport modes, thereby facilitating cycling as part of the daily commute and other multimodal travels (National Complete Streets Coalition;, 2023).
Surroundings and Activities
Separated bike lanes are exclusively for cyclists. They are safer when separated from both the roadway and the pedestrian walkway by physical barriers such as curbs and vertical elements such as trees. Separating the pedestrians from the cyclist’s lane is more valuable in eliminating pedestrians from encroaching. When designing the bike lanes, the designer should accommodate at least a width of seven feet in order to allow side by side bikers passing. There should also be clear markings to clarify the envisioned users as well as the direction of travel. Auckland City is dedicated to encouraging walking and cycling as flexible modes of mobility. It has created a vast network of pathways for cycling and walking which is ideal for enjoyable family outings and commuting. There are adequate pedestrian plazas and sitting areas (Hagen & Rynning, 2021).
Intersection treatments
The designer can strive to minimizes the points of intersection of the cyclists and the motorists, but at some cases its unavoidable. The designer can incorporate four treatments: bend-in, bend-out, mixing zone and protected signal phase. The bend-in positions cyclists closer to the turning automobiles and increases their visibility prior to the turn. Here the designer can align the bike lane proximately adjacent to the roadway for at least six meters in advance of the node. At the bend-out the designer should provide space for automobiles making a right-turn to yield to the cyclists. The cyclists’ lane can be designed two to five meters from the adjacent roadway. Mixing the motorist, cyclists and pedestrian zones means sharing but it causes more traffic and it can only work under low speed for all. The protected signal phase separates conflicting movement in time and in turn increasing the signal cycle length and possibly lengthening the delay time ( Alta Planning + Design;, n.d.).
Cities can be made more bicycle and pedestrian-friendly by creating safe and accessible infrastructure for both users. This can be accomplished by setting up complete streets. A complete street provides access for all users; pedestrians, cyclists, motorists and transit riders of all abilities. There is no specific design for a complete street because it is designated to fit into the given neighborhood and traffic as well as improve bicycle infrastructure and pedestrian well-being.
References:
Alta Planning + Design;, n.d. Small Town and Rural Design Guide. [Online]
Available at: https://ruraldesignguide.com/physically-separated/separated-bike-lane
BBC;, 2020. How bike-friendly ‘slow streets’ are changing cities. [Online]
Available at: https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20201112-how-bike-friendly-slow-streets-are-changing-cities
[Accessed 17 January 2024].
Hagen, O. H. & Rynning, M. K., 2021. Promoting cycling through urban planning and development: a qualitative assessment of bikeability. Urban, Planning and Transport Research, 9(1), pp. 276-305.
Iniguez, A., 2023. New Spaces for Bicycles: The Future of Urban Mobility. Arch Daily, 23 October.
Luke, N. & Pérez-Barbosa, D., 2021. 4 Ways to Design Safe Streets for Cyclists. [Online].
National Complete Streets Coalition;, 2023. Complete Streets Policy Framework. Smart Growth America, April.
