Dissing+Weitling is a Danish architecture firm that is becoming very well known for creating bicycle pathways for cities to help alleviate automobile traffic and provide more environmentally forms of transportation. In Copenhagen, the firm created The Bicycle Snake and The Super Bicycle Pathways, which have helped the city become the most bicycle-friendly city in the world, according to some rankings.
It is this experience with creating bike-specific infrastructure that led the Chinese city of Xiamen to enlist the firm to help it create a better environment for bicyclists. Xiamen’s infrastructure was mainly focused on cars and buses, which makes it difficult and hazardous to bicycle along the city’s main arterial routes. The solution to avoid traffic and the hazards associated with it was to raise the bike lane off the ground and create a dedicated bicycle skyway on raised platforms.
The skyway, which, in addition to being China’s first suspended bike path, is the longest elevated bike path in the world, runs along and underneath the city’s existing overhead Bus Rapid Transit system in the central part of the city. The green-floored path is 4.8-meters-wide and its record-breaking 7.6 kilometer distance covers the city’s five major residential and three business centers.
There are 11 different entry points along the path that correspond with 11 bus stations and two subway stations. For anyone who is interested in using the path as a greener alternative to driving a car or taking public transportation but doesn’t have his or her own bike, the new path will provide 355 cycles for hire. Additionally, 253 parking spaces for private bikes on seven separate platforms will be provided.
The entire 7.6-kilometer path was designed and completed in just six months and is currently in use. The Xiamen City Public Bicycle Management Company operates the path for the city’s 3.5 million residents.
Image courtesy of Dissing + Weitling.
For more images of the completed path, click here.
Related Stories
Urban Planning | Apr 20, 2017
Times Square renovation officially opens
The Snøhetta-designed project nearly doubles the size of public space at one of the most visited attractions in the U.S.
Architects | Apr 20, 2017
‘Gateways to Chinatown’ project seeks the creation of a new neighborhood landmark for NYC’s Chinatown
The winning team will have $900,000 to design and implement their proposal.
Green | Apr 14, 2017
Sunqiao looks to bring agriculture back to Shanghai’s urban landscape
Vertical farms will bring new farmable space to the city.
Industrial Facilities | Apr 12, 2017
Energizing the neighborhood
The Denny Substation in Seattle is designed to give local residents a reason to visit.
Urban Planning | Apr 3, 2017
Capturing the waterfront draw
People seem to experience a gravitation toward the water’s edge acutely and we traverse concrete and asphalt just to gaze out over an open expanse or to dip our toes in the blue stuff.
Urban Planning | Mar 31, 2017
4 important things to consider when designing streets for people, not just cars
For the most part what you see is streets that have been designed with the car in mind—at a large scale for a fast speed.
Urban Planning | Feb 9, 2017
Abandoned WWII-era military village to become 'commune for the 21st century'
The village in Heidelberg, Germany, which 16,000 Americans called home at one time, is being redesigned as a commune for up to 4,000 people.
Green | Feb 6, 2017
A to Z: Seoul’s elevated park features 24,000 alphabetized plants
The plants will represent 250 species found in South Korea.
Urban Planning | Jan 17, 2017
Using 'hidden data' to probe urban problems
The Center for Neighborhood Technology has been tackling poverty, housing, transportation, and environmental issues for four decades.
Architects | Nov 11, 2016
Six finalists selected for London’s Illuminated River competition
The competition is searching for the best design for lighting the bridges of central London.
