“Unravelling the Cycling City”

June 6, 2020 in MOOCs, Urban Design - 3 min read

lessons from mooc series by university of amsterdam
https://www.coursera.org/learn/unraveling-the-cycling-city/home/welcome 

Unravelling the Cycling City

Cycling as a main transportation mode is considered a “niche” in Singapore. Would I? To cycle long periods in the hot, humid, tropical sun -I certainly have given pause. Perhaps with more connected cycling infrastructure? Perhaps with more end point facilities? Undoubtedly, climate is one factor which directly affects comfort, but people are -I too am- acclimatised to modern world luxuries. Despite our government’s best efforts to make us a “city in nature” (per their tagline), we are very much a concrete high rise island, and there are discomforts to choosing the greener way to travel, which stands in stark contrast to the modern comforts within the air-conditioned automobile.

Couple that with affordable public transport (1.5USD to get from one side of the island to another -or about a 1.5 hour ride), and you have an unwillingness coupled with a “better?” alternative. However the nation is certainly trying to introduce it as a last/ first mile transit, and there are policies and infrastructure changes which are welcoming that in our city. 

In the planning of our townships, we have the “Walking Cycling Plan” which, as Architects, we will have to submit for approval as part of the building plans. In the urban design redevelopment of “Kallang Alive”, which I am working on now, there are also real and concrete efforts to ensure maximum pedestrian and cyclist connectivity within the precinct and to the larger “Park Connector Network” which (one day) will link up major townships, green and blue spaces, all across the island. 

All that is on a planning level. To enable involvement on the community level, there are also government initiatives such as “PARK-ing day” (https://www.ura.gov.sg/Corporate/Get-Involved/Enliven-Public-Spaces/Parking-Day-SG) where they invite residences to imagine what car park spaces could be transformed into, and make it a reality for one day. 

The short lived period where bike sharing was introduced to our nation, we saw an increase in cycling activities. But due to various reasons, this is no longer available as an option in our country. This is a placeholder for me to look into this urban/ policy phenomenal.

On all levels, though, efforts indicate a future planned for car-lite, pedestrian friendly network. But why hasn’t it really take off? So then, what lessons can we learn from Amsterdam? As i begin to read articles and research on the topics of mobility and pedestrian infrastructure planning, it has become apparent that there is much to learn, and to translate it to my understanding of mobility infrastructure planning.These are my initial thoughts as I begin a deep dive into the studies behind the “cycling city” course.

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