Free Public Forum: Copenhagen: on a [bike] path to sustainability
7.00pm, Tuesday 13 October, Prince Philip Theatre,
Architecture
Building, The University of Melbourne
Niels Tørsløv
Head of Traffic, City of Copenhagen
Listen to or view an audio and screen capture of the lecture.
There is a new force guiding the future shape of our cities and towns: the bicycle.
It has swooped, seemingly from nowhere, to demand its place at the forefront of urban planning, transportation investment and sustainable design. With the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference scheduled in December, the eyes of the world will focus on the Danish capital: a city where bikes definitely rule. Copenhagen is already one of the most advanced cities in the world for bicycle use, with 36% of all people arriving at workplaces or educational institutions on bikes. The city recently announced new strategies to get that figure above 50% by 2020. To Australians this is a breathtaking challenge: how will Copenhagen achieve this figure?
Niels Tørsløv, Traffic Director for the City of Copenhagen, is the man working on the solution. In Melbourne in October, Tørsløv will reveal his transformative vision in his keynote speech at the Bike Futures conference – an event which assists planners, designers and builders to respond to the critical demands brought on by the growth of bike transportation and recreation across Australia.
In this special forum at The University of Melbourne, Tørsløv will examine the link between design and its impact on climate, ideas and politics that lead to critical decision-making. He will make reference to our local challenges, as well as those in Europe.
The human approach to urban space and traffic issues plays a central role in Tørsløv’s work and this approach is closely linked to development strategies for the City of Copenhagen. Cycling and walking are key issues for his department and for the City. On the international scene, Tørsløv and the City of Copenhagen are considered the frontrunners on sustainable urban transport and play a key role in Eurocities (the network of large European cities).
Tørsløv originally trained as a Landscape Architect.
Since 1988 he has been working on the design of recreational landscapes, pedestrian streets and urban space design. From 1995 he worked for the Danish National Road Administration focusing on road aesthetics and nature preservation. He became Head of the Road Safety and Environment Department in 1997. From 2003 Tørsløv has worked as Head of Planning and since 2006 as Traffic Director for the City of Copenhagen.
This is a Bicycle Network event, co-sponsored by the Melbourne School of Design and GAMUT, coordinated by Bicycle Victoria. To secure your seat for Copenhagen: on a [bike] path to sustainability please register below:
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