The Dutch Blueprint for Urban Vitality

This book, Building the Cycling City, should be compulsory reading for all Australian urban planners and city councillors. It’s about much more than just cycling – it’s about how the Dutch blueprint for Active Transport infrastructure to build urban vitality, CAN be translated and used in car-clogged US and Australian cites too.

“In car-clogged urban areas across the world, the humble bicycle is enjoying a second life as a legitimate form of transportation. City officials are rediscovering it as a multi-pronged (or -spoked) solution to acute, 21st-century problems, including affordability, obesity, congestion, climate change, inequity, and social isolation. As the world’s foremost cycling nation, the Netherlands is the only country where the number of bikes exceeds the number of people, primarily because the Dutch have built a cycling culture accessible to everyone, regardless of age, ability, or economic means.”

“Building the Cycling City examines the triumphs and challenges of the Dutch while also presenting stories of North American cities already implementing lessons from across the Atlantic. Discover how Dutch cities inspired Atlanta to look at its transit-bike connection in a new way and showed Seattle how to teach its residents to realize the freedom of biking, along with other encouraging examples.”

Click here to listen to a sample narration of the preface, introduction and early chapters. You can buy the entire audio book too, or the book can be purchased here online, or do a Google search for other local bookshops.

It’s already been recommended to the Whitehorse-Manningham library to add to their collection.

Get a copy for yourself, and maybe donate another one to YOUR local Councillor!