Everyday Design 2：Design Cycling

In recent years, many big cities have returned to cycling as their mode of transport in order to alleviate the problems of pollution and traffic congestion. In a small, fast-paced city with high urban density like Hong Kong, how can the environmental friendly and economical bicycles integrate into people’s daily life with the help of design?

Winnie and her elder brother Paul inherited a bicycle shop from their father. They have been fixing bicycles for local residents in Sham Shui Po for more than forty years. Apart from leisure bicycles, they also helped to modify a lot of delivery bicycles which were used to make a living. They customised bicycle designs according to specific needs and witnessed the evolution of bicycle in the life of the general public.

As early as in the late 1970’s, the planning of Tai Po New Town separated cycle tracks and roads, and linked the tracks to major transport nodes. In fact, this kind of planning was rarely found in the entire world back then.

Peter Cookson SMITH, the planner of the Tai Po New Town, said, “Cycle tracks become part of the practical transport system, and also serve as recreational facilities.”

“Bicycle-sharing” sprung up a few years ago. It brought convenience to cyclists, but also caused various problems. The number of service providers has dropped from the peak of six to two. Ken and Kenneth are founders of a bicycle-sharing platform. They grew up in Tai Po and were cyclists since they were small, therefore they were dedicated to the design of the complementary package of bicycle-sharing. From minor issues like bicycle hardware to major issues like directions of docking position, locking mode and offline services, they have been improving the designs continuously based on user opinions and habits.

Ken, the founder of a bicycle-sharing platform, said, “We spent much time building an offline operation team, so as to ensure that the quantity and quality of bicycles are under control.”

The combination of cycle tracks and bicycle-sharing allows residents of the New Territories to ride bicycles safely and continuously. On the contrary, it is still impractical to implement this mode of transport in crowded urban areas with narrow roads – However, everything has an exception.

Hughes, the designer of city cycling routes, said, “Bicycles are a mean of transport. We can explore a city with bicycles. They can also act as a median to connect people.”

As such, he established a cycling culture platform and organized various cycling activities, such as bicycle picnic and bicycle market, in order to promote the living culture of “city bicycles”.