Dutch Designs for a Cycling Country

BAB / BYCS, Daan Zandbelt, Essay, Mike Emmerik, No Density, Territory and mobility, Urban Paradigms

Bicycle, Built landscape, Cultural agitator, Cycling Infrastructure, Cycling roads, Developing policies, Essay, Future cities, Healthy city, Infrastructure, Megacities & High Density, Network, New urban lifestyles, Pedestrian realm, Public Space, Public Transport, Research, Territory&Mobility, The Netherlands, Transportation, Transportation Systems, Urban Development, Urban infrastructure, Urban strategy

This project was initiated by the Dutch Board of Government Advisors in collaboration with the four largest cities of the Netherlands (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht), the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, the Transport Authority of Amsterdam, the Rotterdam-The Hague Metropolitan Region and the Province of Utrecht. This text was first presented at the Bicycle Architecture Biennale 2019.



The Board of Government Advisors is an independent advisory board that provides solicited and unsolicited advice to the Dutch cabinet on spatial quality and the urgent topics of today, such as transformation of real-estate, mobility, urbanization, and the spatial impact of the energy transition.

The growing interest in liveable, healthy and competitive cities generates an increasing attention to the use of bikes in urban areas. The Netherlands can be seen as one of the major cycling countries in the world, and the Dutch central government, local municipalities, engineers and architects are developing policies and projects that are on the forefront of stimulating and facilitating cycling in cities.