Category Archives: ParkingDay

Jan Gehl – Cities for People

Jan Gehl – Architect, Urban Planner, Visionary and Humanist

Jan Gehl is an experienced architect and urban planner from Copenhagen with a very special view on his environment. Today he has become something of a patron for pedestrians and cyclists. Continue reading Jan Gehl – Cities for People

Sustainable Mobility Week

Today Bremen starts its week of sustainable mobility

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(Foto: Beatrix Wupperman)

Highlights include:

Friday, 16. September
– 17:00 Parking Day (Vor dem Steintor, Höhe Ziegenmarkt)

Saturday, 17. September
– 14:00 Tour de fair (Georgs Fairkauf, Admiralstr. 143)

Sunday, 18. September
– 10.30 ADFC Hochstraßentour (Bahnhofsvorplatz)

Monday, 19. September
– 16:00 Mit dem BUND entschleunigt durchs Blockland (Tierheim Hemmstr. 491)
Friends of the Earth Bremen invite you for a cycle tour away from noise and emissions through the Blockland

– 19:00 Bicycle-Pilotprojekt Neustadt (HSB Cafeteria, Neustadtswall 30) Info and Discussion

For the full program see here:

Bremen ohne Lärm, Schmutz und Enge: Der autofreie StadTraum

Initiative Biebricher Straße to screen the film “The Human Scale”

In pursuit of our desire for a more human scale usage of public space in our street Biebricher Straße, in the Bremen Neustadt district, we will be screening and discussing the film:

 “The Human Scale” (Dir. Andreas Dalsgaars), Danmark, 2012 Duration: 77 mins

Activists from other initiatives are very welcome to share the evening with us:

Thursday 15. September 2016, 8pm

in the room on the ground floor of the house in Bachstraße 38, Bremen Neustadt.

times-square

The human scale questions our assumptions about modernity, exploring what happens when we put people into the center of our equations. For 40 years the Danish architect Jan Gehl has systematically studied human behavior in cities. His starting point was an interest in people, more than buildings – in what he called Life Between Buildings. What made it exist? When was it destroyed? How could it be brought back? This lead to studies of how human beings use the streets, how they walk, see, rest, meet, interact etc. Jan Gehl also uses statistics, but the questions he asks are different. For instance: How many people pass this street throughout a 24 hour period? How many percent of those are pedestrians? How many are driving cars or bikes? How much of the street space are the various groups allowed to use? Is this street performing well for all its users? Jan Gehl made his first studies in Italy and later he inspired the planning of Denmark’s capital, Copenhagen, for 40 years. His ideas inspired the creation of walking streets, the building and improvements of bike paths and the reorganization of parks, squares and other public spaces throughout this city and in many other cities in the Nordic region. Around the world cities like Melbourne, Dhaka, New York, Chongqing and Christchurch are now also being inspired by Gehl’s work and by the developments in Copenhagen.

Parkallee – No Stars For The Cunning Plan

Anyone who has been on a cycle tour of Bremen will know the city’s top attraction Der Stern (The Star). The Stern roundabout sits in the Schwachhausen district, Northeast of the city centre and has seen changes to its layout over the years. Now new plans are afoot. Continue reading Parkallee – No Stars For The Cunning Plan

Cycling in Bremen – The Early Years

550px_Hochrad 1887

“I believe that if all Germans cycled, they would lose their dull sensuality and be happier and more agreeable.” (Ricarda Huch to Richard Huch 1896)[1.Huch, Ricarda: Du mein Dämon, meine Schlange…letter to Richard Huch 1887 – 1897, P. 612, cited by Reiß, Florian Nikolaus: Vom Radfahren in Bremen – Die Bremer Fahrradgeschichte bis zum Ersten Weltkrieg, in: Bremisches Jahrbuch, Band 94, 2015, P. 149f]

 “In no other city in Germany, are cyclists treated as humanely as here in Bremen” (German Bicycle Association meeting in Bremen 1897)[2.Cited by Reiß: Bremer Fahrradgeschichte, P. 162]

Bremer Bicycle History Part 1: 19th century to early 20th century

One glance at Bremen, and you soon realise the importance of the bicycle. In Bremen so many people ride bikes. How come? Continue reading Cycling in Bremen – The Early Years