And the winners are..... Top 20 Most Bicycle-Friendly Cities (Copenhagenize Index 2013)

The Copenhagenize Design Co (*) has released the 2013 Copenhagenize Index - the Top 20 most bicycle-friendly cities.

The Index has been compiled by researching 150 cities around the world and awarding 0 to 4 points across 13 categories, including facilities (e.g. bike racks), infrastructure, sharing schemes, the balance of male to female cyclists, and increase in "modal share" since 2006. It then gives bonus points for "particularly impressive efforts or results," and converts the results to give a score out of 100. 


The Top 20 Most Bicycle-Friendly Cities Index for 2013 (with their 2011 ranking in brackets) are listed below:

1. Amsterdam (1)
2. Copenhagen (2)
3. Utrecht (new)
4. Seville (new)
4. Bordeaux (new)
5. Nantes (new)
5. Antwerp (new)
6. Eindhoven (new)
7. Malmö (new)
8. Berlin (5)
9. Dublin (9)
10. Tokyo (4)
11. Munich (6)
11. Montreal (8)
11. Nagoya (new)
12. Rio de Janeiro
13. Barcelona (3)
13. Budapest (10)
13. Paris (7)
14. Hamburg (13)

Not a single British city is placed in the Top 20.  I wonder what ranking Manchester would have. 

Using the point system below, what score would you give Manchester?  Answers on a postcard or comment on this blog.... 

Cities were given between 0 and 4 points in 13 different index categories, with a potential for 12 bonus points awarded for particularly impressive efforts or results. In short, a maximum of 64 points could be awarded. The final score is then altered to be out of 100.   The 13 Parameters that each city is ranked by are:

Advocacy: How is the city’s (or region/country) advocacy NGO regarded and what level of
influence does it have?

Bicycle Culture: Has the bicycle reestablished itself as transport among regular citizens or only sub-cultures?
Bicycle Facilities: Are there readily accessible bike racks, ramps on stairs, space allocated on trains and buses and well-designed wayfinding, etc?
Bicycle Infrastructure: How does the city’s bicycle infrastructure rate?
Bike Share Programme: Does the city have a comprehensive and well-used bike-sharing programme?
 
Gender Split: What percentage of the city’s cyclists are male and female?
 
Modal Share For Bicycles: What percentage of modal share is made up by cyclists?
Modal Share Increase Since 2006: What has the increase in modal share been since 2006 - the year that urban cycling started to kick off?
 
Perception of Safety: Is the perception of safety of the cyclists in the city, reflected in helmet-wearing rates, positive or are cyclists riding scared due to helmet promotion and scare campaigns?
Politics: What is the political climate regarding urban cycling?
 
Social Acceptance: How do drivers and the community at large regard urban cyclists?
 
Urban Planning: How much emphasis do the city’s planners place on bicycle infrastructure - and are they well-informed about international best practice?
 
Traffic Calming: What efforts have been made to lower speed limits in and generally calm traffic in order to provide greater safety to pedestrians and cyclists?


* Copenhagenize Design Co. is an urban planning consultancy specialising in bicycle planning, infrastructure and communications. We consider the bicycle to be the most effective tool in our urban toolbox for rebuilding our liveable cities for the new century.