Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Bicycles And Future Cities

When you imagine a future city, do you think of a historic machine like the bicycle? Perhaps not, but others have. In fact, Bicycle City, the first of its kind in North America is in the planning stages and to be located in South Carolina.

Imagine that! A city without roads! Without roads for cars, that is. Bicycles are shaping the way we transport ourselves into the future of cities without cars. Of course, the 140 acres of Bicycle City will have green homes to go along with it.

It is no surprise that Germany has already built a bicycle city where over 5,000 residents currently live mostly without cars and that is a tram’s ride away from the town, Freiburg. The cars that are used are parked on the outskirts of town which are, you guessed it, biked to.

The inspiration for such a project comes from none other than golf. Communities are built up around the golf so why no around cleaner air, less noise, less pollution, doubling up on activities like getting exercise while going to shop?

None other than the bicycle fits that bill.

Of course, tons of questions start to pop into mind. One of the first questions that I had was how would you get food into the city. For the South Carolina site, rail and water will be the transportation modes used to haul all the goods that we use and rely on for daily life.

As I rushed to tell my friend about this concept, more questions came up. What if you have a family to transport around, or what if the weather doesn’t cooperate with your plans?

Being a problem solver, my friend and I came up with lots of ideas to answer these questions. After some thoughtful discussions, we realized that these concerns were opportunities for fun and creativity and maybe even a spark for that entrepreneurial spirit.

Now, what about all that pedaling? That may sound like torture to some and exhilarating to others. At some point or another, we have all wished to get to that easy-breezy status. It’s just the in between parts that seem bring our good intentions to a crashing halt.


The key is to start. After a couple of weeks, your aerobic capacity will build, and you’ll be able to do things you never thought you could. Soon, says expert bike riders, you won’t look back.

Nobody really knows when the bicycle was invented. One school of thought embraces the 1860s as the first bicycle invention by a guy named Ernest Michaux. Others refer to Baron Karl Drais von Sauerbroon as being the first to design a bike-like machine around 1818.


Regardless of the exact date, bicycles and the various models have always been a fascination and a fashion statement, from nostalgic to a throw down that has no chance of getting stolen.

To take a look at the history of bicycle models, click here.  Which one do you like best? Leave your comment.

Image: healingdream / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

4 comments:

  1. Riding a bike can surely even save a guy with type two diabeties, but let me know if you will ever need my vote for the minicipalities or county transit or road builder autorities to increase bike riding routes all over the place.

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  2. I love the bikes with the great height. the ones taller than the house. I keep trying to imagine what would happen if the guys on them fell off such a great height. The hospitals would be hard put to put him together again.

    As for the bicycle cities,the concept sounds beautiful enough, but the problems I forsee with them are endless; especially in today's helter skelter environment and society.

    Some of the problems you have already alluded to in your post above, others abound. But like you said, they can all be seen as opportunities for entrepreneurial brain storming.

    All i all, a very interesting post to complement a very interesting website. Well done.

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  3. samewhite, I understand what you're talking about. I gave it a lot of thought...having a bike to ride,etc. rather than drive a car to and fro. After all this thinking, I decided that it would really be pretty cool. You really could design great looking bikes that could carry the whole family...with a crank for every person! Ha. Thanks for the comment and thanks for visiting.

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