The future of cities is being designed today
What we do now defines the future. This is why it is important that visions are linked to action that we can do today. It’s important that people can relate to why we’re doing what we’re doing now, since it bridges the gap between the tangible experience and the imagined future. Visions also need a strong understanding of the challenges we’re facing today and the ability to project those issues into the future, assuming that no-one is addressing them and takes action to change them.
The present day challenge
Imagine the streets in the central district of your city. Chances are high that they’re full of cars. You might be stuck in the slow traffic, spending time trying to find a parking spot so that you can have a coffee in the café nearby together with your friends. If you’re outside, you probably notice the constant noise and pollution from the cars, neither of these makes a nice environment for you or the surrounding. If you start to wonder about how much priority we give to the cars in the public space, considering that we’re stuck in the car for a considerately amount of time, taking trips that most of us easily could do faster, cheaper and by more environmental friendly means. Then the issues of the future become clearer to us; if we don’t do anything to address the priority of transportation, then there is no mobility.
When we finally learned to prioritize the mode of transport
We don’t think that the city should be a place for cars, most of the car trips we do inside cities can easily be replaced by either a strong network of public transportation, cycling and walking, which we see will be a growing priority in the future. Cars will be recognized as a means for long-distance travels, that have nothing to do inside urban areas. This causes that a lot of the streets will be reorganised for other uses; a strong interconnected public transport network, biking infrastructure and areas for recreational purposes such as parks and sport facilities will replace much of the space where cars once were driving. People will be able to travel much faster to their destinations using a mix of public transport and bike-sharing. Since this requires much less space inside urban areas it frees up space for other users and can accommodate a much higher density of people in the cities.
But it all starts today: asking essential questions about why we’re prioritizing cars so highly inside urban zones? What will happen if we rethink how we move around in cities?
About Eimantas Liudvinovicius + Simon Majdrup Hansen:
Eimantas and Simon are the dynamic duo behind Bikway, a young startup company with a strong international team focused on experimental urban planning consultancy, specialized in biking infrastructure. Eimantas is the technical minded problem solving part, whereas Simon is the creative driver and visionaire of Bikway.
Eimantas Liudvinovicius has a master in Engineering Management from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and has a B.A in Mechanical Engineering from University of Southern Denmark (SDU). Experience: engineering, CAD, development, management and production.
Simon Majdrup Hansen has a B.A. in Architecture and Public Space from the Royal Academy of Arts Copenhagen and has started his own consulting business „Creacthink“ for innovation in space.
“Observing and experiencing how Copenhagen functions as a city inspires and motivates us to work with the urban mobility. The Danish capital is an example on how a sustainable and bicycle friendly city can be, if the biking network is consistently planned and executed. Urban changes are always hard to implement, since most people are afraid of the things they don´t know. This is why we’re working on giving people an experience of how the changes feel before they happen.”
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