Amsterdam cycling city: curse or blessing?
June 3rd is World Cycling Day. Amsterdam is one of the cycling capitals of the world. In most major cities the car is dominant, in Amsterdam it is cyclists. Here is a photo impression of the cycling city of Amsterdam.
In 1865 the first vehicle was made to ride on the current bicycle. And 20 years later there was the first car. Many cyclists in Amsterdam at first. In 1939 there were 250 thousand bicycles per 800 thousand people in the city. In that same year there were less than 10,000 cars in Amsterdam. So there were 25 times as many cyclists as cars.
Battlefield
After the Second World War, the city became a battlefield of cars and bicycles. First, the car became dominant and leek Amsterdam was completely set up to become this self-driving device. When traffic in the city was completely jammed and full with cars, resistance arose and the practical objections also turned out to be great. The book ‘Bicycle City Amsterdam – how Amsterdam is the bicycle capital of the world’ reports. Fred Feddes and Marjolein de Lange wrote it. When this book was published in 2019, there was an exhibition in the City Archives.
urbanization
In the period from 1950 to 1970, ‘city-building’ was also central in Amsterdam. The overall plan was to separate ‘living, working and recreation’ in the city. The inner city would be a business center connected by major highways with the residential areas. The plans for Wibautstraat are a clear example of this. Large-scale and modern, with the current result as a result.
The street was to become an important artery, a metropolitan boulevard. Amsterdam would become the largest and ultramodern. This also fitted in seamlessly with the plans for the construction of the IJ tunnel and the widening of Weesperstraat.
During this period, the car begins to dominate the street. The A10 ring road does not yet exist and a lot of traffic goes through the city. Also cars that go from, for example, Amstelveen to Zaandam.
Cars are parked everywhere and the cyclist wanted in the crowd. Due to a long-standing revolt by the residents and the conditions for cycling in Amsterdam, this is turning around. This can be clearly seen in the development of the Van der Helststraat in de Pijp.
The Van der Helststraat now. A pedestrian street. And beautifully refurbished.
popular anger
The municipal plans are coordinated. The idea is to make Amsterdam a modern business city on the American model. The Nieuwmarktbuurt must be demolished. But some of the residents love the beauty of the old town and want a city on a ‘human scale’. The inhabitants are militant, the riots enormous. Historian Geert Mak speaks of the ‘Twenty Years’ War’, which lasted approximately from about 1960 to 1980.
cover
In 1978 the city council opted for the compact city and not for a car city. In practice this also stands for the victory of the bicycle. Amsterdam remains small in terms of cycling. The Amsterdam Cyclists’ Union plays a major role. While the municipality became pressured by residents for the compact, Amsterdam became an under bicycle city in the world.
Referendum
In addition to opting for a compact city, it is also crucial for cyclists that Amsterdam is as flat as a dime. The city is easy to cycle through both the manageable distances and the plains.
It is also important that in 1992 the residents opted for a ‘car-free city centre’ via a referendum. Reducing the car is carried out step-by-step, of course also to the benefit of many car users. Moreover, the A10 ring road was completed in 1990, so that a lot of traffic was sucked out of the city, as it were, and can drive around the city via the highway.
cycling anarchy
From about 1980, Amsterdam became more of a bicycle city. The municipality is building many bicycle paths and limiting the space for the car. The area is more bicycle-friendly, such as Sarphatistraat, where the ‘car is a guest’. See the photo at the top of this article. And also in the coming decades, when 100 thousand new homes are built in Amsterdam, the space for cyclists will increase.
Cycling has the great advantages that it is healthy and environmentally friendly. Amsterdam is without doubt a worldwide bicycle city. But the Amsterdam cyclist acts organized anarchistically. Dik de Jongh of the Amsterdam Fietsersbond in the ‘Bicycle City Amsterdam’: My main motivations are to maintain the human dimension in the city and the city as a wonderful book place that is not changed by massive car use.”
But fellow federation member Jacob Uitermarkt is not satisfied: “Still, I haven’t felt connected to my fellow cyclists for years. I’m even ashamed of chicken now and then. Gradually, a cycling anarchy has developed. It is difficult for me to feel solidarity with people who tell others what they are planning to do, or who snub other cyclists and pedestrians when driving straight through a red light.”
The municipal research bureau OIS concludes: Despite the apparent anarchy and chaos, all the measures have made traffic in Amsterdam much safer. In 1970 there were almost 120 road deaths, in recent years there have been around 15 a year. Amsterdam cycling city seems to be a blessing overall.