Mikael Colville-Andersen

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Mikael Colville-Andersen
MJK 46590 Mikael Colville-Andersen (Republica 2019).jpg
Colville-Andersen in 2019
Born (1968-01-29) 29 January 1968 (age 56)
Alma mater National Film School of Denmark
Occupation(s) Urban designer, public speaker, television host
Notable workCopenhagenize Design Company; The Life-Sized City (TV)

Mikael Colville-Andersen (born 29 January 1968) is a Canadian-Danish [1] urban designer and urban mobility expert. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] He was the CEO of Copenhagenize Design Company, which he founded in 2009 in Copenhagen, and he works with cities and governments around the world [7] [8] [9] in coaching them towards becoming more bicycle-friendly. [10] He is the host of the urbanism documentary television series The Life-Sized City , [11] [12] which premiered in 2017 on TVOntario and in 2018 on various other international channels including Finland's national broadcaster YLE [13] and Italian broadcaster La Effe. [14] Season 1 of The Life-Sized City was nominated for five Canadian Screen Awards in 2018. [15]

Contents

Career

Mikael Colville-Andersen during the ISPO Bike 2013 Conference in Munich Mikael Colville-Andersen in Munich 2013.JPG
Mikael Colville-Andersen during the ISPO Bike 2013 Conference in Munich

Colville-Andersen is known for his philosophy about simplifying urban planning and urban cycling and how cities should be designed instead of engineered. [16] [17] He is at the forefront of utilising observational techniques inspired by the likes of William H. Whyte for pedestrian and bicycle planning and has been called "the Modern Day Jane Jacobs". [18] He employs anthropology and sociology in his work to develop liveable cities and, in 2012, he spearheaded the largest study of cyclist behaviour ever undertaken – The Choreography of an Urban Intersection – tracking the desire lines of 16,631 cyclists through an intersection in Copenhagen over a 12-hour period. [19] [20]

His approach and philosophy have led to him being referred to as "the Richard Dawkins of cycling" by Peter Walker of The Guardian in 2014 interview with Esquire magazine, [21] "the Pope of urban cycling" by Canadian newspaper La Presse [22] and Austrian newspaper Der Standard, [23] among others and "the Bieber of urban cycling" in an interview with Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. [24]

Colville-Andersen has been instrumental in orchestrating the global bicycle boom, starting with what was later called "the Photo That Launched a Million Bicycles" [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] in 2006, which led to the Copenhagen Cycle Chic photography and streetstyle blog in 2007. [30] Regarding his early work with the Cycle Chic movement, The Guardian dubbed him "The Sartorialist on Two Wheels". [31]

He coined the phrase cycle chic in 2007, [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] as well as the word Copenhagenize in the same year. [42] [43] [44] He has also coined and popularised other phrases such as Bicycle Urbanism, Viking Biking, Citizen Cyclist and he started The Slow Bicycle Movement in 2008. [45]

Before embarking on a career as an urban designer, he was a film director [46] and screenwriter. His debut feature film, Zakka West (2003), was the first indie film in Denmark [47] [48] [49] [50] and premiered at the Copenhagen International Film Festival. He has written and directed several short films, including the award-winning short Breaking Up (1999), and founded the first pan-European organisation for screenwriters – Euroscreenwriters – in 1997.

As producer for The Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR) bicentenary website for Hans Christian Andersen, he and his team won the Prix Italia award at the Radiotelevisione Italiana 57th Prix Italia for Best Public Service Website. [51] [52] [53]

In 2013, he appeared in Edinburgh to help celebrate that city's Bike Week. [54]

In 2014, he was cited as one of the influential urban planners suggesting that radical solutions were needed if improvement was to be seen in respect to congestion problems in the city of York. [55] He has also explained that cycle parking is needed for cities to be cycle-friendly. [56] He was booked as a keynote speaker at the Velo-city Global conference in Adelaide in May 2014. [57]

Volunteer work in Ukraine

In May 2022, Colville-Andersen founded a non-profit organization Bikes4Ukraine . [58] The organization's first goal was to deliver bicycles to help uncongest Lviv's public transportation. The city had had accepted over 200 000 refugees since the start of the 2022 Russian invasion, which put a strain on public transit. Local urban planners contacted Colville-Andersen to suggest the bicycle solution which lead to the founding of the organization. On 3 July 2022, the first bicycle donation event took place in Copenhagen. By the end of that day, the organization received over 100 bicycles, which were sent to 3 Ukrainian cities: Lviv, Bucha and Chernihiv. As of early 2024, Bikes4Ukraine has delivered over 1000 bikes to over 35 cities and towns in Ukraine. [59]

In January 2024, Colville-Andersen announced he is designing a Nordic-style trauma-informed therapy garden for people suffering from PTSD in Kyiv. The project is expected to be finished by June 2024. The initial site for the garden was located in the Podil neighbourhood, however, it was changed to be in the northern part of Kyrylivskyi Hai  [ uk ] park, near a psychiatric hospital. [60] Colville-Andersen's team plans to work together with the hospital's staff to create a learning hub for mental health professionals from all over the country. The project in Kyiv is a pilot one, Colville-Andersen has confirmed he and his team have early-stage plans for building more gardens like these in Lviv and Mykolaiv. [61]

Exhibitions

Bibliography

Awards

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Copenhagen</span> Capital and largest city of Denmark

Copenhagen is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of around 660,000 in the municipality and 1.4 million in the urban area. The city is on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the Øresund strait. The Øresund Bridge connects the two cities by rail and road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bicycle-friendly</span> Urban planning prioritising cycling

Bicycle-friendly policies and practices help some people feel more comfortable about traveling by bicycle with other traffic. The level of bicycle-friendliness of an environment can be influenced by many factors including town planning and cycling infrastructure decisions. A stigma towards people who ride bicycles and fear of cycling is a social construct that needs to be fully understood when promoting a bicycle friendly culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bicycle-sharing system</span> Short-time bicycle rental service

A bicycle-sharing system, bike share program, public bicycle scheme, or public bike share (PBS) scheme, is a shared transport service where bicycles are available for shared use by individuals at low cost.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bicycle culture</span> Culture supporting the use of bicycles

Bicycle culture can refer to a mainstream culture that supports the use of bicycles or to a subculture. Although "bike culture" is often used to refer to various forms of associated fashion, it is erroneous to call fashion in and of itself a culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bicycle transportation planning and engineering</span>

Bicycle transportation planning and engineering are the disciplines related to transportation engineering and transportation planning concerning bicycles as a mode of transport and the concomitant study, design and implementation of cycling infrastructure. It includes the study and design of dedicated transport facilities for cyclists as well as mixed-mode environments and how both of these examples can be made to work safely. In jurisdictions such as the United States it is often practiced in conjunction with planning for pedestrians as a part of active transportation planning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cycling advocacy</span> Activities promoting cycling

Cycling advocacy consists of activities that call for, promote or enable increased adoption and support for cycling and improved safety and convenience for cyclists, usually within urbanized areas or semi-urban regions. Issues of concern typically include policy, administrative and legal changes ; advocating and establishing better cycling infrastructure ; public education regarding the health, transportational and environmental benefits of cycling for both individuals and communities, cycling and motoring skills; and increasing public and political support for bicycling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Velo-city</span> Yearly cycle planning conference, organized by European Cyclists Federation

Velo-city is a series of cycle planning conferences that started in 1980 in Bremen. The name Velo-city is a small play on word using the French for bicycle – vélo, and Velo-city can also be read as velocity or speed. European Cyclists’ Federation owns the series name, and the ECF Board is the decision-making body for Velo-city.

Copenhagen is the capital of Denmark and can refer to the city proper, as well as several geographical and administrative divisions in and around the city:

Specialized Bicycle Components, Inc., colloquially known as and stylized as SPECIALIZED, is an American company that designs, manufactures and markets bicycles, bicycle components and related products under the brand name "Specialized", as well as the premium and professional oriented "S-works".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cycle chic</span> Cycling in fashionable everyday clothes

Cycle chic or bicycle chic refers to cycling in fashionable everyday clothes. The fashion concept developed in popular culture to include bicycles and bicycle accessories as well as clothing. The phrase Cycle Chic was coined in 2007 by Mikael Colville-Andersen, who started the Copenhagen Cycle Chic blog in the same year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cycling in Sydney</span>

Cycling in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia takes place for recreation, commuting and as a sport. Sydney has a hilly topography and so may require a slightly higher level of fitness from cyclists than flatter cities such as Melbourne and Canberra. Sydney depends heavily on motor vehicles where traffic and public transport operate at capacity. This means that cyclist are often competing with motorists for limited space on busier roads, and for limited government resources for expenditure on road infrastructure. In its favour, Sydney has a generally mild climate and there are active cycling groups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cycling in Copenhagen</span> Means of transportation in Copenhagen, Denmark

Cycling in Copenhagen is – as with most cycling in Denmark – an important mode of transportation and a dominating feature of the cityscape, often noticed by visitors. The city offers a variety of favourable cycling conditions — dense urban proximities, short distances and flat terrain — along with an extensive and well-designed system of cycle tracks. This has earned it a reputation as one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in the world. Every day 1.2 million kilometres are cycled in Copenhagen, with 62% of all citizens commuting to work, school, or university by bicycle; in fact, almost as many people commute by bicycle in greater Copenhagen as do those cycle to work in the entire United States. Cycling is generally perceived as a healthier, more environmentally friendly, cheaper, and often quicker way to get around town than by using an automobile.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biomega (bicycle company)</span>

Biomega is a Copenhagen-based, Danish brand of designer bicycles. It is known for engaging with international designers from outside the bicycle industry; including Marc Newson, Ross Lovegrove, Karim Rashid and Bjarke Ingels, often giving its products unconventional solutions. In addition to producing bikes under its own name, Falcon produces bicycles under a joined brand with Puma AG.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Copenhagen City Bikes</span> Discontinued bike sharing system

Copenhagen City Bikes or Bycykler København was the bicycle sharing system of Copenhagen, Denmark. Launched in 1995 with 1,000 cycles, the project was the world's first organized large-scale urban bike-sharing scheme, which, unlike its Dutch predecessor, featured what are now considered basic elements such as coin deposit, fixed stands and specially designed bikes with parts that cannot be used on other bikes. Riders paid a refundable deposit at one of 110 special bike stands and had unlimited use of a bike within the specified downtown area. The scheme was funded by commercial sponsors. In return, the bikes carried advertisements, which appeared on the bike frame and the solid-disk type wheels. When the programme was abolished in October 2012, some 1,500–1,700 bikes were still in service, out of a total of 2,500 put onto the streets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manfred Neun</span> German entrepreneur

Manfred Neun is a German entrepreneur and a key figure in cycling advocacy. He is the former president of the European Cyclists' Federation and actively advocates for cycling and utility cycling in Europe and abroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cycling in Canada</span> Overview of cycling in Canada

Cycling in Canada is experienced in various ways across a geographically huge, economically and socially diverse country. Among the reasons for cycling in Canada are for practical reasons such as commuting to work or school, for sports such as road racing, BMX, mountain bike racing, freestyle BMX, as well as for pure recreation. The amount and quality of bicycle infrastructure varies widely across the country as do the laws pertaining to cyclists such as bicycle helmet laws which can differ by province.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cycling in Denmark</span>

Cycling in Denmark is both a common and popular recreational and utilitarian activity. Bicycling infrastructure is a dominant feature of both city and countryside infrastructure with segregated dedicated bicycle paths and lanes in many places and the network of 11 Danish National Cycle Routes extends more than 12,000 kilometres (7,500 mi) nationwide. Often bicycling and bicycle culture in Denmark is compared to the Netherlands as a bicycle-nation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cycling infrastructure</span> Facilities for use by cyclists

Cycling infrastructure is all infrastructure cyclists are allowed to use. Bikeways include bike paths, bike lanes, cycle tracks, rail trails and, where permitted, sidewalks. Roads used by motorists are also cycling infrastructure, except where cyclists are barred such as many freeways/motorways. It includes amenities such as bike racks for parking, shelters, service centers and specialized traffic signs and signals. The more cycling infrastructure, the more people get about by bicycle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PBSC Urban Solutions</span> Bicycle-sharing system developer and supplier

PBSC Urban Solutions, formerly the Public Bike System Company, is an international bicycle-sharing system equipment vendor with their headquarters based in Longueuil, Quebec. The company develops bicycle-sharing systems, equipment, parts, and software, and sells its products to cities in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, Brazil and more. The company has sold about 100,000 bikes and 9,000 stations to 45 cities.

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