In 2007 Copenhagen-based Danish urban design consultant Jan Gehl was hired by the New York City Department of Transportation to re-imagine New York City streets by introducing designs to improve life for pedestrians and cyclists. In this connection, Gehl took NYC planning chief Amanda Burden and transportation czar Janette Sadik-Khan on a bike trip around Copenhagen to show them what could be done for New York. Former British transport minister Andrew Adonis has also cycled the streets of Copenhagen in search of inspiration. As a result of Russian president Dmitri Medvedev's favorable impressions of Copenhagen's biking system during his visit to Denmark, 14 city bikes were sent to St Petersburg at the beginning of June 2010 where they will be available to citizens on an experimental basis. Medvedev believes the city bike approach could reduce traffic congestion in the city. The Danish pavilion at the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai had been specially designed by BIG Architects. It allowed visitors to gain experience of cycling in Copenhagen by taking one of its 300 city bikes along the cycle paths which were incorporated throughout the structure. and city has since signed its first sister cities agreement with Beijing with a major goal of the cooperation being to provide inspiration to Beijing on how it can reintroduce the bicycle as a major mode of transport in the city.