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Pre-Travel Thoughts
Pre-Travel Thoughts
June 23, 2023.
After an busy few weeks of finals, I am excited to finally be roaming Europe, a long time dream of mine. In the weeks before the program starts, I have taken the opportunity to explore Paris, Amsterdam, and Berlin. In just a few days, I will finally be settling down in Copenhagen. Just today, I came across a report from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) that ranked Copenhagen as the second most livable city in the world, with a perfect score of 100/100 for its infrastructure. This only makes happier that I choose to join this program. I realize there is still much I do not know about the country, so I am all the more excited to immerse myself in Copenhagen with an open mind and few preconceived notions.
Already, I find myself inspired by the urban landscapes of Europe, particularly cities like Amsterdam, which seem to have struck a harmonious balance in their human-centric city design that lent itself to a sense of calm, cohesion, and community. Its a feeling that really resonated with me and invited a sort of perceptual shift in the way I interacted with the city. I am incredibly excited for the ways this time abroad will serve as source of inspiration and contribute to an ethos that will guide my future career as a planner.
The United States certainly exists within a different planning context with its own unique history, challenges, and political framework. In turn, it feels important to consider how nuances such as these shape urban transformations in the U.S. and Denmark and how to adapt Danish planning into the American context.
As I dive into this study abroad experience, I eagerly anticipate uncovering the unique aspects of Danish urban planning and gaining a first-hand understanding of their approach to creating livable cities. By observing and learning from a premier model of active transportation, I hope to expand my perspective and cultivate innovative ideas that can be adapted to the specific circumstances and challenges faced by American cities. Ultimately, I hope my time in Europe will be an enriching opportunity to broaden my horizons, engage with diverse urban environments, and forge connections with other planners and planners-to-be.
Day 1, Copenhagen
Day 1, Copenhagen
June 26, 2023.
Glad to have finally arrived in Copenhagen! It's great to be reunited with some familiar faces and some new ones as well.
I had the impression that Copenhagen's bike culture would be very similar to Amsterdam, but I'm surprised to see some differences. Overall, the bike infrastructure seems a bit more orderly and structured as opposed to the more loose and free flowing format I experienced in the Netherlands. Niels Hoe echoed this same thought in his talk today. For one, I think having the bike lane on its own curb level creates more delineation and prevents pedestrian/biker collision. Meanwhile, bikes lanes are often found on the sidewalk level in Amsterdam, creating Shared Space that require awareness and negotiation between bikes and pedestrians.
Today, I noticed the sheer amount of bikes parked outside of metro and train stations, suggesting a high degree of bike integration for first/last mile. Biking around, I saw some very visible wayfinding and signage for bikes, such as a huge blue gateway marked with a symbol for bike parking in what appear to be a mall. I need to remember to take pictures tomorrow to reference in my future blog posts.
Coming from Portland, It's surprising to see how many bikes are not locked to a fixed structure, many bikes solely have a built in back wheel lock. It seems bike theft is uncommon enough that people don't necessarily feel the need to lock their bike to a rack. I wonder what a deciding factors in locking to a rack...time? convenience? perceptions of safety?
Some other thoughts and observations:
Biking seems far more common for commuting than recreation, though this may vary outside of urban centers.
Some of the city streets around DIS felt a little hectic with narrow streets, construction, and a lack of a dedicated bike lane.
Lights turn to yellow before green giving a short heads up to the upcoming transition.
Pedestrian crossing signals do not flash to warn pedestrians. This was also the case in Paris, Berlin, and Amsterdam.
Signage like this provides a good example of how common bikes are here
New whip for the next couple weeks
Day 2, Copenhagen
Day 2, Copenhagen
June 27, 2023.
It's been inspiring to hear about all the innovations happening in Denmark. I was particularly amazed to hear that Metro runs 24/7 with only 15 minute headways in the late night. I have some vivid memories running to catch the last train on the Taipei Metro only to miss it by a few minutes. It seems like not many other places in the world offer 24/7 service. After doing some research, I was surprised to see that most trains in NYC do with surprisingly similar headways.
Today we took a long ride out to the DTU campus along one of the cycle super highways. I was hoping that this particular section would be more removed from the car highway. I think I had imagined it winding though pastoral countryside. Even still, the path felt incredibly safe and well marked.
The talks at DTU on data collection methods were particularly fascinating. Accelerometer and GPS data from Hovding helmets and bike lights can provide a truly astonishing wealth of information to researchers. I was surprised how accurate the accelerometer data was at picking up different road surfaces. If not already, I wonder if our Nike Bikes could be used for similar data collection?
On the way back from DTU with tired legs, some of us opted to try some multi-modal travel and grab the S train back into town. I'm glad we did, it was a fun experience and we got to avoid some rain. :)
Day 3, Copenhagen
Day 3, Copenhagen
June 28, 2023.
My favorite stop today had to be the traffic garden! I had missed it yesterday in favor of trying the S train and had planned to come back on my own time.
The garden features miniature roadways, bikeways, intersections, roundabouts, signage, parking spaces, and pretty much everything you would expect to see on a Danish street. It all feels very real, even down to the miniaturized, but fully working traffic/intersection lights. I like that there wasn't too big of an attempt to make the park appear overly kiddish, it feels very grounded in reality which I think makes it far more relatable to children's real world experiences.
As an educator of over 10 years, its great to see the Danish focus on traffic safety education in such a tangible, experiential way. It would be amazing to see something like this in Portland. Maybe a partnership between PBOT, PPS, and PPR?
Seeing some climate resiliency planning today was also a huge plus! Enghaveparken features a retaining wall that can act as a reservoir in the event of heavy rain. I had never heard the term cloudburst used before. After doing some research, I found they are apparently becoming a more common occurrence around the world, including Copenhagen. This park sits at a lower elevation than the surrounding area allowing water to flow into it. I'm not entirely sure how the gates work, but apparently they can close without needing electricity. The park itself can hold nearly 23,000 cubic meters of water!
Casper had also pointed to the sunken bike parking earlier in the tour, serving the same purpose. I wouldn't want my bike to be stuck in one of those pits during a cloudburst though! I think he mentioned these corrals combined can hold around 3000 bikes.
I really love seeing the sheer amount of ped/bike only bridges around Copenhagen. Withs so many canals and inlets, these do a great job connecting people to the larger city and make for a truly walkable experience. As an added bonus, these shortcuts incentivize active transportation. In many cases, biking becomes a far faster option and certainly a more leisurely and scenic choice. When I was looking at directions to Reffen, I noticed that going via bike was 19 minutes vs 18 minutes by car. Likely, during peak hours, driving times increase. My favorite was the snake bridge, but I was unable to snap a photo while on my bike.
Day 5, Copenhagen
Day 5, Copenhagen
June 30, 2023
I had to take the day off yesterday after falling ill, but was thankful to recover so quickly. Still isolating from the group, I decided to explore Copanhagen's parks on my own. Overall, I enjoyed taking my time and soaking in the greenspaces around town at my leisure.
I chose Rådhuspladsen (City Hall Square) as my first destination, wanting to test out how much energy I had. The square was lively today with people gathered around the central fountain. A guitarist and singer were playing a bossa nova tune. Many people were gathering here, both locals and tourists and seemed like a great landmark to meet.
From there I made my way to Ørstedsparken on bike. The park is a more traditional greenspace featuring a serene pond with a bridge crossing, winding paths, ample shade, sunny lawns, and a series of statues depicting mythological figures. The weather today was sunny and warm and I observed many people taking leisurely strolls, running, picnicking in the grass,
I continued on to SuperKilen Park, taking more time to check out both Red and Black square. I really appreciate how these spaces feature a diversity of elements representing a variety of cultures: A Thai boxing ring, rainbow bike corrals, swings, an interesting play sculpture, an Islamic fountain, swing sets, and features that actively support skateboarding. With so much representation, the park draws a diverse crowd and makes for a wonderfully activated space. I equally love how the park is linked by biking greenways, themselves featuring benches, swings, covered spots, sports areas, and so much more. the integration here is truly welcoming and invites relaxation and play.
Nearby, on the map, I was intrigued by BaNanna park. Upon arriving, I was greeted by a towering rock climbing structure featuring a variety of routes and adorned with street art of apes and Bananas. Truly wonderful placemaking. The structure was really well maintained compared to many of the outdoor artificial climbing sites I've seen before and there were around 6-8 climbers using the walls.
While wandering back to my bike, I heard distant smooth jazz music and decided to investigate. In a smaller plaza, hundreds of people of all ages gathered. There were pop-ups with beer and food. It looked like a lot of fun, but I decided it best if I err on the side of caution and keep social distancing. I got back to my bike at The Red Square and made my way back to the hotel.
All the parks today really had their own unique character. It really feels like there is something for everyone at parks in Copenhagen!
Day 6, Aalborg
Day 6, Aalborg
July 3rd, 2023
I am so thankful to have fully recovered just in time to rejoin for the trip to Aalborg. We took a bus out to Sjællands Odde, a long finger like peninusula only about a kilometer across at its narrowest and around 12-15 km long. Looking out at the sparkling windswept sea, I imagined Viking ships passing through here millennia ago. We arrived at our own ship, a large ferry at the end of the peninsula. Our Bus and around 20 other vehicles piled on before departing. The winds were high today and the boat rocked heavy a few moments. Quite exciting and I'm glad I didn't feel sea sick! We arrived in Aalborg after another leg on the bus. The city feels sleepy compared to Copenhagen. After checking in, we were greeted by our guides for the bike tour today. Our group of 6 was paired with Kenneth and super kind dude. The bikes we had for the tour were light and zippy, I much preferred it to my rental in Copenhagen. Though it didn't appear very special, It felt like an extension of my body. I think Kenneth was magic, perhaps a Norse god because we managed to avoid the intermittent rain, always seeming to start pouring when we went inside buildings.
He took us to the top of the old coal powerplant. From the 13th floor you could see the entire city. It felt so small and manageable. After living in a rather small seaside town in Korea, I have a certain fondness for quaint smaller cities. From what Kenneth told us, the city for many years was known for concrete, liquor, tobacco, and (drawing a blank here), but has now become a major university city with around 1/3 of its residents students. The city has provided premier housing along the Fjord to attract students. Art galleries here have also tried to draw attention to Aalborg by brining in international street artists to create large murals around town.
Day 7, Aalborg
Day 7, Aalborg
July 4th, 2023
Today is our second day in Aalborg. We took the bus to COWI to learn about some of their engineering and planning projects. Rene was quite charismatic, greeting everyone with a friendly handshake and a smile. From his presentation, we learned about COWI's recent sustainability goals aiming to no longer accept contracts in oil and gas, and to focus on reducing carbon footprint in every step of the construction process. One classmate asked if this was going to affect COWI's revenue, but surprisingly not. There is a huge push in Denmark and the EU for renewables. The biggest challenge Rene highlighted was finding new work for those at COWI who have specialized in oil and gas engineering projects.
I'm really impressed by some of the engineering feats COWI has accomplished with suspension bridges. The 1915 Çanakkale Bridge in Turkey, a COWI project completed in 2022, has a total length of 4,608 meters and currently the largest span in the world at over 2 Kilometers. Tomorrow we will get to cross Denmark's longest suspension bridge, the 6,790 meter long Great Belt Bridge. Also constructed by COWI, its longest span is 1,624 meters.
Olen (sp?) then gave a presentation on plans for Aalborg's BRT system that will begin later this year. He reviewed the pros and cons of LRT vs BRT, highlighting the high costs and fixed nature of an LRT project. I think its unfortunate that Buses get bad rap in the US, often seen as slower or used by a "lower class". I hope efficient BRT systems can change that!
Day 8, Aarhus
Day 8, Aarhus
July 5th, 2023
No big write up today, but I wanted to post some of the fantastic art from the ARoS Museum in Aarhus!
Day 9, Malmo
Day 9, Malmo
July 6th, 2023
Today we crossed the border to Sweden to compare their transportation systems to Copenhagen.
Martin greeted us as we got off the bus at the Triangeln South Station entrance. The station had a massive bike corral, a drop off repair station, and café for commuters using bicycle for first/last mile. I noticed bikes were often locked to the racks, something I hadn't seen much of in Denmark. Martin admitted that bike theft was more common, but also talked about programs in place to give recovered and abandoned bikes to immigrants/refugees coming to Sweden. He also mentioned programs run by The Red Cross to help those coming to Sweden learn to ride a bike who previously had not. Bikes, being far cheaper and more accessible than cars, provide a great mobility opportunity for newcomers acclimating to a the city. Coincidentally, only a few minutes later we saw a group of Muslim women in bright yellow vests being taken around on Malmo's bikeways by a members of The Red Cross.
I was surprised to see that Malmo has chosen to use bi-directional bikeways. I can see some advantages, but also some challenges. Bikers don't necessarily need to cross the street as much to get where they want to go, but also there is more potential for collision. Pedestrians, bicyclists, and cars need to utilize a greater degree of awareness when bikes are coming from both directions. This may be especially true for pedestrians since sidewalks and bike tracks are not delineated by a curb.
Martin also showed us some other interesting design examples in Malmo, some effective, and some...not so much. At the same intersection we saw bicycle group was a sort of roundabout feature for bikes. Martin pointed out that this design has been a bit confusing for bikers. I liked the Summer Streets around Malmo, the designs are quite similiar to Open Streets projects that have grown in popularity in the US following the COVID epidemic. Some of the streets didn't feel very active at the time, but using benches, planters, and other obstructions certainly help slow drivers and negate the car-centric dominance on the streets. Similarly, other design features have been put in place around town to help signify shared space. For instance, near the North Entrance to Triangeln Station, the bikeway pavement ends abruptly, signaling to bikers to slow down and share the space with pedestrians. I wonder if some more clear markings, like the words SLOW painted at the end of the pavement could be a cost effective improvement to increase the efficacy of this design.
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