Copenhagen Most Bike-Friendly City in the World

11 June 2015

After finishing second in the last two 'Copenhagen Index rankings', Copenhagen edges off Amsterdam and takes first place this year. According to the index, the Danish capital remains impressively consistent in its investment in cycling as transport and in making efforts to push it to the next level.

With regards to a uniform network of urban design for bicycles, the index suggests that Copenhagen is unrivalled in the world.

Continued investment in infrastructure
The good ranking is partly a result of continued investment in new infrastructure. A bicycle bridge over a motorway north of the city. Two new bridges - Trangravsbroen and Proviantbroen - over the canal opened in December 2014. The famous Cykelslangen - or Bicycle Snake - an elevated bike ramp that has captured the citizens' imagination and provided an important mobility link across the harbour. Four new bicycle bridges are on the way. Cross-town routes are being upgraded.

-Realted news: The Bicycle Snake

A bold attempt is being made to use bicycle travel times as the baseline for all traffic lights and flow projections, instead of car travel times as has been the norm for decades. As stated by the index ranking, it can be difficult to keep track of the constant flow of new bicycle urbanism initiatives in Copenhagen.

About the index
The Copenhagenize Index gives cities marks for their efforts towards re-establishing the bicycle as a feasible, accepted and practical form of transport.

The ranking system was developed in 2011 together with James Schwartz from The Urban Country. Inspiration was gleaned from rankings like Monocle's Liveable Cities Index and rankings produced by The Economist.

In short, cities are given between 0 and 4 points in 13 different categories. In addition, there is a potential for a maximum of 12 bonus points awarded for particularly impressive efforts or results. In the case of a tie, the city with the highest baseline score is ranked higher.

This year, cities with a regional population over 600,000 (with a few exceptions because of their political and regional importance), were included, with 122 cities ranked.