Mikael Colville-Andersen | Author & Founder of Copenhagenize Design Company

This week Matt’s guest is Mikael Colville-Andersen, speaker, TV host, author of “Copenhaganize”, and founder of Copenhagenize Design Company, a global consultancy firm that helps cities understand best practices and implementation of bike infrastructure for their communities. Mikael has a Canadian public TV show called “The Life-Sized City” and also hosts a podcast of the same name. Mikael and Matt talk broadly about urban bicycle infrastructure in-person from Copenhagen, one of the most bicycle friendly cities on the planet, in which 60% of commuting is done by bicycle.

Matt is an avid cyclist, often cycling 30-50 miles on a given weekend morning. He reflects that bike culture in Denmark is not so much about riding for exercise as it is transport. Riding a bike in Copenhagen is casual — seeing people in suits coming home on their bikes, moms and dads bringing their kids to school, bikes with full baskets of groceries, people young, old, out of shape and in shape all just pedaling on their clunkers to get where they need to go are normal, everyday sights — and the protected bike lanes make it feel safe.

Mikael is an urbanist and a deep believer in creating bicycle infrastructure and getting people out of their cars. He explains that a more intentionally-designed urban infrastructure will improve our cities, health outcomes, quality of life, and carbon footprint. This conversation provokes an important question: How does the real estate industry help promote this change on a larger, more consistent basis?

Resources

• Mikael Colville-Andersen | LinkedIn
• Bikes 4 Ukraine | Cykler til Ukraine
• The Life-Sized City | TVO Today
• “Copenhaganize” by Mikael Colville-Andersen
• 2019 Copenhagenize Index
• “Best Bike Cities in America 2018” by A.C. Shiltron and the Bicycling Magazine Editors
• “The Best Cities for Cyclists” | The New York Times
• “Why We Shouldn’t Bike with a Helmet” | TEDxCopenhagen 
• “The E-Bike Skeptic” by Mikael Colville-Andersen
• The Life-Sized City Urbanism Podcast: Vancouver, Tall Buildings and Brent Toderian | Episode 09
• Matt’s Strava Feed