Urban fit

6 Results

Report	Fietsberaad publication 6. Bicycle streets in main bicycle routes; Applications in practice 2005 Report about bicycle streets; also a CROW publication. Bicycle street is a functional term here: main bicycle routes through residential streets. With a catalogue filled with photos of possible models.
Article	Shared space and cyclists Karin Broer , Fietsverkeer nr. 19 2008 Regulate as little as possible, in order to get traffic participants to think for themselves and communicate. That is, in a nutshell, the essence of Shared Space. The Monderman design philosophy creates a lot of waves in the world of traffic. Isn’t this achieved at the expense of weaker traffic participants?
Article	When can cyclists and pedestrians no longer mix? 2005 BRO conducted an empirical study at 91 inner city locations. There is a clear limit to the pedestrian densities that allow a combination with cyclists.
Report	Bicycle highway: the fastest bicycle connection for commuters Dolte , Dolte, Utrecht 2009 Visualisations of the possibilities to distinguish a long main bicycle route through an urban environment.
Report	Summary - Activity friendly neighborhoods for children Sanne de Vries (TNO Kwaliteit van leven) , Paper VU Amsterdam 2009 A safe traffic enviroment is more important for getting children to be more active, rather than more playfields and greenery in a suburb. The research concludes that there is a correlation between spatial planning of the neighborhood and the the ammount of physical activities done by children in these neighborhoods.
Article	Lightrail, tram and bicycle Ron Hendriks , Fietsverkeer nr. 20 2008 A number of towns and regions are currently discussing the possibilities of lightrail. A prominent role in the news is played by the RijnGouweLijn (Leiden) where competition between bicycle and lightrail is a major issue. But in Groningen too a similar debate rages. At stake is the question whether both transport modalities actually do compete, or whether they may complement each other admirably.

Urban fit

Under the heading of Urban planning there is reference to the oft repeated discussions between urban planners and traffic engineers (Traffic engineers’ sole wish: NETWORKING; Verkeerskundigen willen maar één ding: NETWERKEN ) at the actual planning level. There the discussion often revolves around the value of ‘activity’ , lines of sight, wide roads, etc. But there is a lot of potential tension at the more concrete level of urban fit as well. The Houten expansion demonstrates that, learning from past experiences, old traffic engineering principles may be incorporated into modern urban development: Houten traffic principles in a Vinex coating; Houtense verkeersprincipes verpakt in Vinex vorm.

Types of pavement are a case in point (‘no asphalt in old town centres’) as well as the colour of bike paths and lanes (Bicycle facilities colour the street; Fietsvoorzieningen brengen kleur op straat). In the past few years by far most cases involve bicycle parking. Urban planners generally find large numbers of randomly parked bicycles ugly: Bicycle absent in aesthetically sound town . Not only because of the functionality for pedestrians/shoppers but certainly also for these kinds of aesthetic reasons attempts are made in several town centres to only allow bicycles to the edge of the shopping area. The discussion often also rages in the vicinity of train stations - and all bicycles not neatly parked in the stands (no matter how great their distance to the platform or how great the lack of spaces) then tend to be classified as ‘obnoxious’: Obnoxious, dangerous or simply incorrect: fuzzy borders in practice.

The urban glamour of the station vicinity appears to play an increasingly greater role. Bicycles are seen as disruptive elements. At the same time there is often a - much more functional - lack of space and a need for ‘double use of space’. Leading to large and beautiful underground parking facilities as glamorous but expensive solutions, see Bicycle parking facility at Leiden Centraal forecourt highly successful and Bicycle parking at the Groningen train station; a new approach!