Cycling around the world

By Henrik Eriksen, member of the main board of the Danish Cyclists’ Federation
Each of the book’s seven chapters is introduced by a brief description summarising thearticles in that chapter. The book contains a total of 25 articles. The descriptions are good andwork well to provide the reader with quick overview. Each chapter has a short title whichconcisely, in its own precise language gives interested readers a good search tool for their
thematic reading. Themes covered in the book are: cycle culture, liveable and bikeable cities,
cycle infrastructure, safety for cyclists, bicycles, cycling policy as well as cycle advocacy andeducation. The articles cover conditions in countries in North and South America, Asia, Africaand Europe.
The extensive number of illustrations in the book support and amplify the text in a more thanadequate fashion, whether it be in the form of photographs, diagrams, drawings, models orsimilar.
The level of factual information contained in the articles is impressive, as is the information
about various processes, in for example, the political arena, that the authors have managed toconvey in about nine pages, which is the approximate average length of the articles. The
factual information is relevant if you want to carry out any comparative analyses of cycling
conditions between or in different parts of the world. The information about the processes isparticularly inspirational for the development of strategies to foster cooperation and contact
between various stakeholders and actors within the world of cycling. Finally, the information
is useful for analysing a wide range of topics and areas in the theory and practice of cycling,and cyclists at local and global levels. The book's last two chapters, which contain descriptionsof the authors' academic background to deal with the issues mentioned above, as well as
references for further search, also make entirely relevant reading.
On a more detailed thematic level, you can read about, among other topics, cycle
superhighways, multi-modal transport, urban cycle systems, cycle parking, cargo bikes,
children cycling, voluntary cycling initiatives, cycle strategy and sustainable transport
solutions. You can also read about cycling as a democratising instrument as well as a factor
promoting the good urban life, cycling and health, safety for cyclists and safe cycle routes,
works of art affect the motivation for cycling, bicycle accounting and the socio-economic
importance of the bicyle.
Unfortunately, there are some errors which, in the worst cases, interfered with theunderstanding of the text and even in the better cases, diminished the overall impression. Anexample of this is to be found on page 107, where the text referring to the illustrations and thenumbers have been interchanged.
Errors or not, the book is a very informative publication about cycling globally, which can be of
benefit to many different readers, whether it be used as a source of inspiration for example, orcurrent information about cycling or for educational purposes. You will find the book both
useful and readable whether you are a cycling lobbyist, a student interested in the book'sthemes, a traffic or cycle planner, an employee in an interest group, a voluntary cycling
activist, just to name a few of the book’s target groups.
Book data
Cyclists & Cycling Around the World - Creating Liveable & Bikeable Cities (2013). Edited byJuan Carlos Dextre, Mike Hughes & Lotte Bech. Fondo Editorial de la Pontificia Universidad
Catoó lica del Peruó . 334 pages. Book sale: http://cyclists-world.com/buy-the-book/index.html.