Infrastructure was a big topic at Velo-city 2018, having experts from all over the world talking about different perspectives of cycling infrastructure in many different sessions. According to the Cycling Embassy of Denmark, “the infrastructure is the basic for developing a cycle culture”.

During the conference many different aspects of cycling infrastructure were explored. During the first day, we discussed the challenges related to the design of cycling infrastructure in cities and metropolises of developing countries. How design impacts cycling levels, real and perceived safety, travel times, comfort of users, attractiveness of urban spaces? How to adapt design to spatial, economical, but also political constraints? How to find space for high quality cycle infrastructure in large and crowded cities?  How to prioritize cycling investments? The second day we debated whether the concept of cycle highways can be transferred to developing countries, which still have deficiencies in basic infrastructure. The third day was particularly jam-packed with infrastructure, focusing on parking policies; how infrastructure can be a promoter of social inclusion, generating accessibility and equality; the negative outcomes of the lack of infrastructure on the public space realm, as well as examples of cycling infrastructure in cities like Copenhagen, Sao Paolo and Rio de Janeiro. The fourth and final day featured a session about “Copy & Paste Infrastructure” , where participants discussed challenges and adaptations of applying the Dutch or Danish cycling infrastructure design standards and solutions to other countries, and analysed cases of success and failure.

Visit the links below to check out the articles from the program highlights related to infrastructure:

Velo-city day 1: Infrastructure - Small vs Big City Design

Velo-city day 2: Cycle Highways Innovation

Velo-city day 3 - Parking policies

Velo-city day 3: Inclusive Infrastructure

Velo-city day 3: The Public Space Realm

Velo-city day 3: Shopping by bike

Velo-city day 4: Copy & Paste Infrastructure