Smart Design in Dutch Cities

Stationsplein, Utrecht, Netherlands Utrecht’s Stationsplein is the largest bicycle parking garage in the world.

BY GEORGE LIU

© UTRECHT TOURISM BOARD/JURJEN DRENTH

Rotterdam Central Station

Smart cities are not just about dazzling people with technology but about good design that makes human interaction easy and intuitive.

My message is about smart cities and smart mobility, but it’s also room to contemplate and reflect on why smartness isn’t always a solution to everything, that something as simple as a bicycle can be the solution to many of our mobility needs.

Rotterdam

Rotterdam is a unique Dutch city; it is very modern, but much of the cycling and pedestrian-friendly characteristics from before WWII has been preserved. And along with the crazy architecture, they also have my favorite thing: grassy trams, which, in addition to being so much more beautiful for the city, also contributes to better water management, and it helps reduce the noise levels around the area.

At Rotterdam Central Station, you can catch highspeed trains to Belgium and Paris, as well as trams to Amsterdam, the airport, and the surrounding area. There are many ways to get across the river, including the 1-kilometer tunnel for pedestrians and cyclists. The other way to get across the Maas River is the Erasmus Bridge, where you have all modes of transport, including trams, automobiles, bikes, and a fairly generous pedestrian pathway.

Utrecht

Utrecht is a more historic city than Rotterdam, and it shows you what can happen if you preserve the city center from a time when people mostly walked.

Utrecht Central Station is the Netherlands’ busiest train station. From here, you can catch a train to anywhere in the country. Utrecht is also home to the busiest bike path in the Netherlands—and perhaps the world. This is a main route toward the Central Train Station shared with two bus lanes in the middle. When it gets really busy, you can see a whole lineup of cyclists waiting to get across this intersection.

The Dafne Schippersbrug is a bicycle bridge built specifically for cycling and walking. They made a loop detour to ensure a single-gear bike could easily climb the grade. From Central Station, this bridge cuts cyclist commutes by about 1 kilometer.

What are the lessons for America? How do we plan our cities like European cities while also navigating the political environments? I see no good reason why the U.S. transport system has to be different from Europe. It was a political choice, not an engineering one, that led the U.S. to be more car-centric. While we may increase the freedom of people who drive, we’re also decreasing the freedom of those who cannot or choose not to drive.

A smart city is not solely based on technology or intelligent vehicles; it’s intelligent in serving the needs of its people, allowing them to get from A to B in the manner they choose. In a smart city, you can walk to the grocery store, bike to see friends. And if you want to drive, car sharing is available, but it doesn’t constrain you to being in the driver’s seat or tethered to car and insurance payments, which is not a very smart way to spend your income. Moving away from the car, the simple matter of increasing liberty, opportunities, and freedom. What could be more American than that?

© ROTTERDAM TOURISM BOARD/CLAIRE DROPPERT

George Liu

Online Education Strategist, Cycling Research Review

Amsterdam, Netherlands

George Liu is an educator, YouTuber, and Ph.D. researcher studying how ideas from urban design can guide the creation of attractive environments that encourage cycling as a practical and desirable mode of daily transport. His “City Unboxed” series has received over 100,000 views on the Urban Cycling Institute YouTube channel, showing audiences around the world how design choices can bring delight in the way that people move around.