The Potential for Making Ukrainian Cities Bicycle-Friendly – Bikes4Ukraine in Mykolaiv

Mikael is back in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, delivering more bikes with his non-profit Bikes4Ukraine. He explains how Ukrainian cities are ripe for positive urban change, including a transformation to becoming more bicycle-friendly.
His book Copenhagenize – the definitive guide to global bicycle urbanism has just been published in Ukrainian – one of only 150 new books published since the start of the full invasion. Now he’s starting work as an urban designer on thinking about what needs to be done and what cities are best positioned for rapid and urgent urban change. Mykolaiv and Chernihiv lead the pack.

Donate money today to Bikes4Ukraine:
International: https://fundrazr.com/bikes4ukraine
Denmark: Mobilepay 340896

Website: https://bikes4ukraine.org

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#ukraine #urbanism #mykolaiv #urbandesign #urbanplanning #bikes #cycling #bicycle

I’m here in Mykolaiv and I’m thinking long and hard as I do every time I’m in Ukraine about how Ukrainian cities can improve using the war as an opportunity. The mayor of Mykolaiv – I just met him. I handed him a copy of the Ukrainian version of my book,

Copenhagenize – The Definitive Guide to Global Bicycle Urbanism. And he expresses – every time I meet him – a desire for bicycle infrastructure to make Mykolaiv into a very, very bicycle friendly city and also becoming one of the first cities in Ukraine to actually do it.

So I have been looking at this city, maps of it, since I was here last time and starting to think, what do Ukrainian cities need? Not only Mykolaiv here, man, they have incredibly wide Soviet roads. That’s their low hanging fruit, man. They have so much space that given most of it to cars.

But that really makes it easy. It’s kind of like working in the States, except here there is political will to actually have bicycle infrastructure, which still doesn’t exist really anywhere in the States. Lots of space for bike lanes. And they have had standards here that were American slash Soviet,

You know, almost four meter wide car lanes. There are new standards here in Ukraine since 2018 where they can be much narrower. You do that, you free up a lot of space on the side. I’ve been studying this city. The Soviet typology is something that I’ve worked with and that I understand.

So Mykolaiv is really a similar case to that. There is so much potential in this city for becoming more bicycle friendly, for improving public transport as well. There are trolley busses, busses and their trams. Man. They could also use some tender loving care as well.

Ukrainian cities have the choice now to improve transport in their cities, improve public health, really take a step boldly into the future, reduce the number of cars that dominate the streets. They fly along at such incredible speeds here, man, no respect for speed limits. So the standards have now been changed.

That creates potential for finding the space which is right there in every city in Ukraine and in the world for bikes, if you want it to be for bikes. Right. So this is the next step. I’m going to continue bringing bikes to Ukraine

Because there’s going to be a need well into 2023 that won’t stop. So crowdfunding … donate today, but now the next job is starting to redesign Ukrainian cities with my Ukrainian team. With a team in Denmark and Mykolaiv seems to be one of the cities that wants it badly, that wants first.

Chernihiv is another city that is also incredibly ripe for becoming bicycle friendly as well as all the other things that go along with that. This is the time, man. Mykolaiv is quiet this trip. We were getting shelled last time I was here. the potential is just so striking.

There is amazing opportunity for doing the right thing for the future of Ukrainians, for the future of Ukrainian cities. The work starts now. Slava Ukraini.