Case: The Revival of the Bicycle

Location: Within the simulated street block at the north UBPA

Exhibition Mode: Outdoor exhibition

Key Word: Environmental protection and energy saving

Odense's UBPA Case

Case Prototype

Odense, the third largest city in Denmark, is the hometown of Hans Christian Andersen, one of the most well-known fairy tale writers in the world. Early in 1970's when many cities were experiencing an increase in private cars to replace bicycles as personal transport, the city of Odense began to build bicycle lanes. Currently, Odense has a 550 km bicycle lane network.

The Odense municipal government has taken a series of innovative initiatives to promote bicycle riding such as changing travel behavior and publicizing the significance of riding a bicycle as personal transport. The government also tries to optimize the functions of bicycles, improving their comfort and safety, perfecting related infrastructures and bicycle lanes, providing comfortable parking lots, and installing drinking fountains and tire inflation stations along the bicycle lanes.

In the city of Odense, bicycles are more and more widely used as citizens' preferred mode of travel, which results in many positive effects such as increased public health, an improved urban environment and a reduction in carbon emissions.

Case Highlights

In 2010, Odense will demonstrate in the Urban Best Practices Area its contributions in promoting bicycle riding. According to the preliminary planning scheme, a series of bicycle-related themes will be showcased outdoors, such as urban environmental planning, new technology, new life style, development in tourism, public health and safety, environmental protection, etc.

The layout of the exhibition area looks much like the shape of "Sunny face" described in a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale. The most advanced interactive technology will be used to enhance the sense of participation and experience in the exhibition. In the center of the exhibition area, various interactive activities will be organized such as a riding school for kids.

In the exhibition area, a demonstrative bicycle lane will be built with related traffic control devices installed properly to simulate traffic control. Odense is expected to provide a modest amount of bicycles as traffic tools in the UBPA. Then, visitors may tour the site by bike and experience the environment-friendly bicycle ride.