Cities around the world are shifting away from car-first planning and toward healthier, low-carbon mobility. Cycling infrastructure is no longer viewed as a lifestyle perk — it’s an essential toolkit for reducing congestion, improving air quality, and creating liveable urban environments. There are many examples across Europe and beyond that can be used to illustrate how to achieve a good balance between modes of transport and encourage more active travel, particularly cycling. Cities that have succeeded in doing so have several key hallmarks in common; the overall motif is that cycling is integrated into every stage of a journey, from bike lanes to secure bike parking. Here are some examples which can serve as an inspiration to any city aiming to achieve the same.
Copenhagen: From Big Bike Streets to The Smallest Bike-Friendly Details
Copenhagen is undisputedly one of the world’s best cycling cities. Its official goal is that 50% of all journeys to work or school are done by bike, and they are already at 49%.
To realise this and other cycle-related goals, Copenhagen has treated cycling as a serious mode of transport, repeatedly focusing attention, funding, and efforts to ensure that cycle infrastructure is continuously expanded, streets and roads are designed to keep cyclists safe and separate, and cars are not given preferential treatment.
Copenhagen has been prioritising cycling for decades. The city doesn’t just have bike lanes – it has bike paths and bike streets, which allow only cyclists unless explicitly signed that cars are allowed, and even then, it is often only allowed for residents. The streets feature clear and easy-to-understand signage related to bikes, and in many areas, car parking is prohibited, with designated parking spaces intentionally removed to discourage driving. Bike lanes are often done in coloured asphalt to make them easy to follow and distinguish from the road. To keep them in top shape, they are regularly cleaned, repaired and resurfaced. Across the city, there are bridges and tunnels specifically designed for cycling, making it safe and quick to get around. In places with stairs, there are ramps and chutes to wheel bikes up and down.
In addition to these, Copenhagen has provided facilities to make cycling easier. There is an impressive array of small details, such as tilted bins and footrests along paths, as well as more obvious ones like excellent signage and lighting, or repair stations. Lastly, very importantly, authorities in Copenhagen know that better cycle parking can help encourage more Copenhageners to cycle. There are numerous locations which provide secure bike parking with racks and stands, which are located in key communicative spots around the city. Additionally, where there is a high demand for cycle parking but difficulty in finding space, there is an allowance to convert car parking spaces into cycle parking facilities.
Paris: The Cohesive Connection Between Bike Parking and Bike Lanes
In the centre of Paris, more people now bike than drive. This impressive achievement has been in the making for some time. Starting with ambitious plans in the 2010s, Mayor Anne Hidalgo has gradually improved Paris’s cycling-friendliness. The initial plan, spanning 2015-2020, had a budget of 150 million euros and prioritised the expansion of bike lanes and secure parking. By 2021, Paris already had over 1,000 km of cycling lanes and over 60,000 bike parking spots. There are subsidies in place for installing more bike parking in social housing, and major transport hubs have been outfitted with enough bike racks to accommodate travellers. To make cycling safer, the city has adopted Dutch-style junctions, which facilitate safe bike turning, provide protected zones, and feature clearer signage.
To make cycling an easier-to-adopt change, the plan also focused on education and training. There have been numerous initiatives aimed at teaching both adults and children how to ride a bike safely, as well as offering bike repair workshops.
Following the initial plan, the new 2021-2026 plan has ambitiously aimed to further expand the presence of bicycles in Paris. The goals are to add 180km of bike lanes and 130,000 new bike parking spaces across the city. One of the key ideas is also to secure parking requirements for all new construction or rehabilitation of private buildings, offices and establishments open to the public. The plan focuses on central Paris but also on connectivity with the metropolitan region to encourage more cycling outside of the centre, multi-modal integration and improving the ease of cycling for different purposes like commuting, tourism and logistics.
Hangzhou: The Power of Bike-sharing & Infrastructure
In the top 10 most bike-friendly cities, 9 are European, but the 10th one might surprise you: Hangzhou, China. This city stands out globally for its scale of cycling infrastructure and bike-sharing system. With a population of 13 million, the city wanted to ease traffic and environmental concerns, so in 2008 it introduced China’s first bike-sharing system.
The system has a great service area coverage and a large number of bikes. With 116,000 public bicycles available and around 250,000 rentals each day, Hangzhou’s bike-share system has become the largest in the world and has seen great use. By offering free (or low-cost) first-hour usage, strong station density, and keeping the system convenient, they encourage frequent cycling trips and show that cycling is part of everyday life.
The scale and accessibility of the program helped shift perceptions of cycling from purely leisure to a legitimate everyday mode of transport. The system is also tightly integrated into the urban transport network and emphasises the “last-mile” connectivity from transit to destination. It has also integrated technology to make bikes more convenient, featuring QR-code scanning for rentals and returns, smart-card technology, automated check-in and check-out, as well as overnight return options, making the system easier to use.
Additionally, the Hangzhou public bicycle program has service outlets that generate additional revenue by offering a range of conveniences, including mobile phone charging, beverage vending, baby stroller rentals, and parcel storage for express deliveries.
Additionally, Hangzhou has invested heavily in building one of the most comprehensive cycling infrastructures in Asia. Hangzhou has outfitted its main roads with dedicated non-motorised lanes and built roughly 4,073 km of cycling greenways. Many dedicated cycle lanes run parallel to practical major roads and scenic rivers, canals and parks, ensuring riders can travel safely without mixing with heavy traffic. Hangzhou’s greenway network — a vast system of landscaped paths designed for cycling and walking — connects residential districts, commercial centres and transit hubs, making cycling a convenient daily option rather than just a leisure activity. To make getting around even easier, the city has also integrated bike-and-ride (B+R) and park-and-ride (P+R) systems, facilitating a smoother transition between bicycles and public transportation.
All of this has been a great success. According to data from the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, between 2008 and 2020, the bikes were rented 1.098 billion times—avoiding an estimated 549 million car trips and preventing 1.461 million tons of CO₂ emissions.
The experiences of Copenhagen, Paris, and Hangzhou demonstrate that creating a truly cycle-friendly city is not the result of a single project, but rather a long-term, coordinated commitment to designing for cyclists at every stage of their journey. Whether through Copenhagen’s decades of careful street design, Paris’ ambitious investment and policy reform, or Hangzhou’s integration of large-scale bike sharing with extensive greenways, the message is the same: when cities prioritise cycling infrastructure, secure bike parking, and seamless links between transport modes, people choose to ride. These global examples demonstrate that cycling can become a central, reliable, and attractive form of everyday mobility when supported by thoughtful planning and sustained investment. Any city aiming to reduce congestion, improve air quality and promote healthier, low-carbon travel can draw valuable lessons from their success.