Last week the team members from the Copenhagen and France office visited Lisbon for a week of workshops and Desire Lines studies, two of our flagship services. In recent years, Lisbon has been quite ambitious and active in redefining the role of the bicycle in the city. New protected bicycle lanes, have been built along major arterials, parking lots and traffic circles have been converted back to public space, and now the City is preparing to host the 2021 Velo-City Conference. But perhaps most admirably, the city is planning for a bicycle network that recognizes and accommodates their hilly topography. Planning with the topography rather than in spite of it.

In an effort to drive internal capacity building within the administration, Copenhagenize Design Co. hosted two Master Class programmes on site. Here we talked all things bicycle urbanism: mobility planning for 21st Century cities, constructive communication tactics, observing bicycle riders to plan for more user friendly infrastructure. As always, the programme turned to an engaging mix of talks and hands-on workshops.

Building on the recent infrastructure investments and discussions during the Master Class, Copenhagenize conducted a series of Desire Lines Analyses on key intersections. Designed to observe and inform the performance of bicycle infrastructure at intersections, the Desire Lines Analysis provides Cities with insight into how infrastructure investments are performing and opportunities for improvements.

During the course of the observations, a couple initial things stood out: Residents are just as comfortable cycling in elegant outfits as they are in lycra, the City’s bikeshare system is popular and practical for everyday citizens, and cargo bikes are proving to be a practical tool for getting kids to school.