Increasing cycling rates: from the Dutch seaside to Stevenage, the value of examining what works in practice

Our Head of Communications, Sarah Simpkin spent her holidays enjoying the impressive cycling infrastructure of the Netherlands. For our latest blog, she takes the opportunity to talk about it endlessly… sorry, to take a look at how Dutch best practice is being shared with other cities, the value of working with specific groups to encourage uptake, evaluating what works (or not) and why, and some great feedback from DG Cities recent work in Stevenage.

Knoopunt ‘point to point’ cycle route sign in Haarlem, the Netherlands

One of the first things I did when I got back from our summer holiday was read the Dutch Cycling Embassy’s best practice guidelines. Not a sentence I might have expected to write.

We had been cycling around the Netherlands. Everyone knows the country is a leader when it comes to cycling’s modal share (in some areas, more than half of all journeys are made by bike). Still, we were so taken by the comfort of universal cycle lanes, the network of signposted ‘fietsknooppunten’ (point-to-point number sequences that our 9-year-old was able to remember and direct us between), the easy connections between towns and cities that didn’t involve the mortal danger of joining an A-road or our national speed limit on narrow country lanes; then the underground bike parks, drop kerbs, and oh my, those magical Dutch roundabouts... Equally wonderful was seeing the range of people (and pets) using them, from weekend racers to cargo carriers, and the freedom designing for wheels also gave mobility scooter users and parents with pushchairs. 

The Dutch Cycling Embassy’s best practice guide is a great example of a document of its type: clear, engaging and well sourced, with so many potential lessons for spending the money the UK government has promised to invest in safe infrastructure for active travel. It demonstrates the usefulness of knowledge sharing initiatives, like Sharing Cities, which London and Greenwich, with DG Cities, were part of – an EU-funded platform for international collaboration to help commercialise, advance and deliver new smart city solutions. A chance to learn from Milan’s expertise in retrofit, for instance, or the roll out of e-bikes on the hills of Lisbon.

Cycling in London

It would be easy to come back from the Netherlands to anywhere feeling as deflated a flat tyre on a touring bike, but it’s important to remember that they are decades ahead in terms of policy and investment. While London hasn’t gone fully Dutch quite yet, things have improved significantly since I started tentatively commuting along Brixton’s bus lanes more than twenty years ago.

For a start, there are many more people out on bikes – 24% of Londoners say they have ridden a bike in the past year – supported by positive changes implemented by some councils, as well as major improvements driven by walking and cycling commissioner Will Norman and his team. We have more segregated routes, more choice, there are many more cyclists, all wonderful to see, but we’re still far from normalising the bike as a viable alternative for everyone – and clearly it has as much to do with culture and perception as infrastructure.

It's also about having access to a bike. It’s a catch-22 that many people who might be open to taking more journeys by bike won’t do so without safe infrastructure, but safe infrastructure won’t always be prioritised unless more people demand it. How might policy induce demand? In London, this kind of stimulation is helped by hire cycles and e-bike services – Lime bikes’ survey claims their usage has increased by more than 10% per month, so demand is increasing. Still, hiring any bike can be expensive for some longer journeys. When it comes to ownership, there are Ride to Work schemes and great initiatives aimed at specific groups, such as bike donation schemes for refugees, but I’m interested to see how else can we address affordability – to give people the means as well as the routes.

Understanding what works

Alongside innovation in urban design, policy and public engagement, there’s a need to commit to diagnosis and evaluation; to look at what works in terms of space, facilities and behaviours, and be prepared to adjust for change where necessary. Earlier this year, DG Cities was commissioned by Hertfordshire County Council and Stevenage Borough Council to do just that with a project looking at cycling uptake in the town.

Ed, Emily and Leanne of DG Cities in Stevenage

Stevenage, as a new town, is built to accommodate cycling and they have invested in paths and infrastructure, but rates remain stubbornly low, particularly across some demographics. This focus on increasing uptake among particular groups was one of the most interesting and useful aspects of the project – its focus was families with children under 18, staff at the Lister Hospital, and students attending North Hertfordshire College.

This kind of targeted strategy has benefits when it comes to supporting any behaviour change initiative, as Ed, our Director of Insights, who led the project explains:

“The right way to do behaviour change is to focus on cohorts, rather than any generic approach. This makes it much more effective. Here, we were able to look at behaviours within the underrepresented groups where there is an opportunity to make a difference.”

Following an intensive phase of evidence analysis and discussion, the team spent time out and about in Stevenage, talking to all kinds of road users, hospital staff, students and residents, to understand the unique circumstances of the place and people’s barriers to cycling. From this came a co-design process, to explore potential solutions and put together a practical intervention plan, which included some great ideas to trial that respond directly to people’s concerns. Bicycles libraries for people to hire rather than buy, for example, an inventive ‘cycle miles’ scheme, refresher opportunities for those at different life stages, and measures to support and grow local networks and create events centred around cycling. Great ideas that came through a more iterative process of continual improvement, and really highlighted the importance of evaluation in any programme with behaviour change as its aim.

And it’s not just us saying that. The DG Cities team was delighted to receive some very positive feedback from our client, who commented on how Ed, Leanne and Emily “demonstrated a thorough understanding of our objectives and tailored their approach to meet our specific needs. They employed rigorous behavioural science methodologies and delivered comprehensive insights that have been invaluable to our understanding of barriers and facilitators to cycling behaviours in the target area and target demographics.” They also found the final report clear, useful and told us it “provided actionable recommendations that we are confident will drive positive change to our cycling offer in Hertfordshire.” 

Part of the ease and enjoyment of cycling in the Netherlands is the lack of friction between different road users. To work towards this, it’s vital to fully understand people’s concerns and work collaboratively to find solutions – not everyone can or would want to hop on a bike, and not all vulnerabilities are obvious. So it’s great to see a project like this give the DG Cities team the chance to examine the data, talk to people and look at what really works, why and for whom – and bringing fresh ideas to the challenge of increasing cycling and walking rates in different areas.

To find out more about our evaluation service, read our introduction to assessing impact or get in touch!

2023 in one word

To gather the team’s thoughts for an end of year piece for DG Cities, I asked everyone to sum up their year in one word. A few were positive: “journey”, “rewarding”, “mixed methods” (that’s two) or the more euphemistic “eventful.” For others, “trying”, “u-turns”, “backwards”, “messy” and “reckless.”

For a purpose-led organisation engaged in projects conceived to improve people’s lives, places, and help us reach net zero, it’s no surprise there’s frustration – a number of recent policy shifts seem to have turned against these aims. Reading the blog by our Head of Research, Ed Houghton on COP28 last week, it’s hard to miss the growing exasperation with the lack of global leadership when it comes to addressing climate change. As he writes, it is falling to the local, to overstretched councils, to deliver on social housing decarbonisation, green transport, connectivity and so much more.

“2024? A focus on net zero neighbourhoods; emphasis on technology as a part of the solution, but not the whole solution… realistic conversations about the role of AI in local authorities, and more tangible examples of AI improving outcomes and job quality – changing jobs (as opposed to fear of replacement).”

— Ed Houghton

What does the team hope to see in 2024?

Ed’s hopes for “more leadership on net zero action” echoed a wider desire for decisive net zero policy in the team. “More certainty on UK net zero to support more business investment, jobs and training for the sector,” said one. “More certainty surrounding policy that can positively lead us towards net zero,” agreed another. “Generally, more policy focus to meeting net zero and improving local services and places.” “A plan for local authority budgets.” For one, it was simply “change.”

For IoT Project Manager, Sam Grounds, the focus was realising the potential of innovations, with “a greater focus on technology and data-led improvements to social housing, with residents at the centre of change.” For another, “more data and AI infrastructure in local authorities.”

2023 could be seen as the first year of AI’s mass adoption, with the popularity of programmes like Claude and Chat GPT for writing, AI-generated images in the mainstream, a slew of courses being hastily devised and sold in prompting, seminars to understand AI’s impact on different industries… DG Cities has been working in autonomous transport and data-led tech for several years now, but this year is perhaps the first we have been able to apply at scale innovations like IoT cameras, damp, mould and energy monitors in social housing trials. At last, we’re seeing more recognition of the practical role that this previously ‘emerging’ tech can play in delivering practical benefits now: improving housing standards and delivering on decarbonisation. A trend we hope will continue. 

A goodbye (for now) to Kim Smith

But for Kim Smith, our Head of Smart Mobility, when asked what she’d like to see next year: “more of my garden.” Kim retires from DG Cities this week, although like the hero that swoops in to save the day at the end of a Christmas film, we hope it’s more a ‘see you later’ than a true goodbye. Kim has been a leader in transport planning, delivery, policy and strategy for more than two decades. It’s impossible to pay tribute to her contribution and depth of knowledge, particularly when it comes to Greenwich – we’ll miss her insights, expertise and healthy dose of irreverence.

 …but what does the team expect to see in 2024?

We’ve looked at what the team hopes will happen, but what do people think actually will happen in 2024? Here, the responses were more specific to their areas of focus. One predicts more need for the expertise of DG Cities from councils, designing, running and evaluating trials and developing testbeds: “As the climate crisis becomes more urgent, and the private sector makes more and more use of AI, I think there is going to be much greater room for innovation in local authorities.”

Kim predicts a “swerve back to CAM funding” as the sector gains traction with the automated vehicles bill. For our specialist in EV infrastructure, Ash Burton, it’s all about “more creative and innovative solutions to develop and deploy EV charging quickly and effectively.” For others, there were “improvements in and expansion of digital connectivity.”

Predictions for housing were somewhat negative: “continued lack of affordable and good quality housing, increased vocal concern about the housing crisis… and no house building.” And the final response was a little more pessimistic, or realistic perhaps, on the probability of net zero policy change, expecting “nothing until elections.”

Looking ahead

It's fair to say that 2023 hasn’t been without challenges. But it has also had some great moments, particularly in our busy studio in Greenwich’s Design District. We have welcomed three brilliant new members of the team: Emily, Rasheed and Nima. We had a fantastic Digital Greenwich Connect launch at the start of the year. We have delivered a wide range of projects, from a government-funded study into ‘complex to decarbonise’ housing to a trial with Sense to explore how new smart monitors could save people money and energy.

Looking ahead, we’re launching some exciting projects in 2024, continuing our work on a range of initiatives, including DeepSafe, the next phase in the deployment of self-driving services, investigating AI trust, the decarbonisation of council assets and much more. If you’re interested in working with us, you can read more about our services here.

From all of us at DG Cities, thank you for being part of our year, whether you have shared your views with our researchers, collaborated with us on a project, commissioned us or just enjoyed our features and posts. We hope you, like us, will have the chance for some time to rest and reflect over the Christmas break. We’re looking forward to the new year, to coming back with recharged energy, ideas and passion to deliver for the people and places where we believe we can make a difference.

More cupboards, fewer orbs: visualising the smart city

For our latest piece, we’re looking at the way we communicate aspects of our work – specifically, the images we use to illustrate the smart city and the applications of IoT tech. Communications Lead, Sarah Simpkin, proposes we move away from waves of light and flying numbers and focus instead on showing the tangible difference an innovation could make to a place, and to the lives of people that live and work there.

Smart city images suggested by Midjourney AI

What comes to mind when you think of a smart city. A web of blue and white orbs against an evening sky? Maybe some icons floating above the rooftops, or a wave of binary superimposed on a cityscape? A turquoise infographic or two? Search ‘smart city’ and you can see just how uniform this visual shorthand has become.

Motion blurs and flying numbers over the city are supposed to signify an efficient flow of systems, data, energy and information. According to colour theorists, blue is the colour of trust and clarity, as opposed to red, used in a similar context to signify risk or data security. The web or net symbol is a very literal way of making visible the idea of connectivity, of linking nodes. But technology has moved on from the telephone line – it isn’t so linear. In a way, these images are drawing on analogue concepts to try and visualise today’s dispersed, wireless networks. They pretend to map sensors and data points of various city systems, but are mostly sci-fi really.

Early ideas of the smart city didn’t draw on the same visual references. In 2008, IBM launched their Smarter Planet vision, which proposed exploiting the interconnectivity of power grids, food, water, traffic and healthcare systems, enabled by “sophisticated analytics and algorithms that could make sense of it all.” The concept was by Ogilvy & Mather and IBM, and the visual language was developed by San Francisco agency, Office. There were no webs of light, but instead, colourful motifs that illustrated the project’s objectives. As Office wrote in their case study, it was “a graphic language that could illustrate these complicated solutions in a way that was visually arresting and distinctive, yet simple and approachable enough to be easily understood around the world.”

IBM Smarter Planet advert in an airport © Office: “Inspired by the creative vision that designer Paul Rand developed for IBM several decades ago, we adopted his boldness and “wink” in a way that’s unusually approachable for big tech.” https://visitoffice.com/work/ibm

Somehow, from the singular idea that connected technologies could improve urban life, tech firms ended up with a much more nebulous way of expressing this connectivity. You could argue that the resulting imagery has distanced useful technological advances from their purpose, and from the people that could stand to benefit. And just as these illuminated webs are a bit of a turn-off, so are many visualisations of future transport - I’m thinking of the ones that show beatific couples spirited around in shuttles between futuristic towers in a perpetual golden hour. There is a lie in their two-dimensional promise of the future, because it doesn’t see the city as a holistic, complicated whole. A world with self-driving services may not be so far away, but they won’t necessarily be the defining element of our streets. Some of us will probably still ride old bikes, there will be people walking, wheeling, signposts, deliveries, litter, trees – all the chaotic, unplanned details that give a city life.

What do the components of a smart city really look like?

For a while now, I’ve been asking the DG Cities team to send me site photographs of any new installations – “no image too boring” – and they have delivered. IoT, ultrafast connectivity, damp monitors: none of these announce themselves with a beam of light, the reality is much more prosaic. In fact, much of the action is buried underground or in a cupboard. A camera on a lamppost, a small white box on the side of a brick wall, easily mistaken for a meter cabinet. But what that box represents is the ability to easily switch broadband supplier – the contents of that box help council tenants get a better deal. And that camera, connected to a monitoring app that alerts the maintenance team to issues, makes life harder for fly-tippers, gathers evidence more efficiently and helps to improve the neighbourhood.

There’s perhaps a reason why mobile masts and boxes aren’t overtly shown – in my view, much could be done to improve their urban presence. But picturing technology as an ominous urban forcefield can’t do much for public engagement either, particularly when it comes to connecting with those sceptical of big data, 5G and most recently, the idea of the 15-minute city. What’s more, the sophisticated new AI imaging tools we have at our disposal may just generate more of the same. As these models learn from existing visual references, we could find ourselves bathed in binary, in an echo chamber of ever more clichéd imagery.

But it’s easy to grumble. What should we be trying to show instead? I think we should be focusing on the outcome, on what we anticipate a new service or solution could deliver. Not to oversell it, but to illustrate what it’s supposed to do. If we’re looking at the potential impacts of some of our IoT, electrification or connectivity projects, for example, the picture is very different.

It might just look like a child doing their homework, or streaming a game. It could mean interviewing for a job without the screen freezing awkwardly. It might be the quiet rounds of an electric bin lorry, a safe journey home from a night out in a shared mobility service, or a new way to gather a community’s views on local issues. Or it could be a lifeline – a health alarm, a home free of mould and damp, an accessible link to vital services. Technology touches so many aspects of life, from the mundane to the extraordinary, and it is these human interactions that DG Cities is most interested in.

So, when we’re choosing an image for our own communications, we’re going to try not to default to the industry standard. No more retro futuristic webs of light, because for DG Cities, the future of the smart city is about people – and understanding what technology can do to make their lives better. Even if that really looks like a box in a cupboard.

Could you go for a month without your car?

For the start of August, our communications lead, Sarah Simpkin shares a personal piece about her attempt to go car-free for July, and the insights that gave into the value of some of DG Cities’ projects, particularly when it comes to supporting the shift to electric vehicles in the countryside…

View of London from Blythe Hill Fields on a bike

Earlier this year, environmental charity, We Are Possible set a new challenge, Going Car Free 2022. They invited people to sign up to ditch their car for the month of July. The aim was to change participants’ behaviours by breaking the habit of driving – to give them a reason to try an alternative, even if just temporarily. I signed my family up. Given that we only used our car once in June, how hard could it be? Looking back at the month, there were a few surprises – and some new insights into the value of DG Cities’ work.

The first challenge: a wedding

The month started with a family wedding. The ceremony was in a registry office, a little over five miles from our home in south London, and the afternoon reception was in a local museum. We expected this to be one of the biggest challenges: transporting ourselves and our seven-year-old son on a hot summer’s day in our finery on bikes. But while it took a little more preparation than usual – packing a pannier the night before with snacks, locks, a change of outfit, and planning a safe route to the ceremony, reception and home again – there were benefits. We were able to incorporate a section of the car-free Waterlink Way cycle trail, a new playground, a picnic and take a breath to enjoy the view of London from the top of Blythe Hill Fields.

Our wheels for the month

For the rest of the month, we travelled everywhere by bike, train or bus. We didn’t avoid any events or change our plans. We both cycled to work, we walked our son to school, we took the train around London and we walked to the shops, ordering bulky items for delivery. The truth is, we didn’t really do anything we wouldn’t usually have done – we’re very lucky to live in an area with the services we need nearby and good public transport. We all have bikes, we are able to ride them – and we enjoy it. But then came the heatwave. The record-breaking temperatures a reminder of the urgency of the need to decarbonise and the importance of taking action as individuals.

The second challenge: the heatwave

On the hottest days of July, when London recorded 40°C for the first time, we worked from home. But there was a journey of three miles we had to take with our son. Not going wasn’t an option. Our trains were cancelled, as railways struggled to cope with high temperatures on the tracks and equipment. I read that Network Rail had planned a number of measures in advance of the heat to try to mitigate some of these impacts – maintenance teams had started painting rails white to try to reduce their temperature by 5°C to 10°C, and expansion gaps are routinely incorporated to reduce the chance of tracks buckling. Still, there was severe disruption, which lasted into the following days. We couldn’t cycle in the intense heat, there was no direct bus. And so reluctantly, we gave in – we drove. Our son was furious and demanded we do a fully car-free August to make up for it. We were disappointed too.

How might behaviours change with the climate?

Our decision to drive is just one example of an unvirtuous cycle of emissions. As the impacts of higher temperatures are more acutely felt, people’s behaviours are also likely to change – one of our neighbours talked about buying an air-conditioning unit for the first time. We all used more water than usual. We drove, we plugged in a fan. As energy demand spiked, coal-fired power stations were used to help meet grid capacity demand and avoid blackouts. But more helpfully, we also found new ways to keep cool without electricity, from using sheets to create a buffer between windows and blinds to DIY evaporative cooling techniques. A friend collected the wastewater from his shower and sink to irrigate his vegetable patch, another worked with frozen peas under their armpits.

What if there is no alternative?

Another aspect of the July challenge is talking to others about going car-free, understanding their barriers, and perhaps even persuading them to give it a try for a short time. As I mentioned, it’s easy to choose not to drive when there is a choice to make. I discussed this with friends and family, including my parents, who live in a small village with a population just over 300, almost unchanged since I left more than two decades ago. The village is five miles from the nearest town or any larger village with shops, pharmacy and doctors’ surgery. It is served by an hourly bus during the day, but the stop is on a fast A-road on the periphery of the village, half a mile from their door. A wooden bus shelter is the only sign that a post-bus used to pass through the village itself, although the ‘hopper’ service was discontinued years ago. Due to their mobility needs, active travel is not an option. For them, car-free means isolation.

Of course, the reasons why people drive are more complex than basic needs, and the picture is different across the UK. That’s why the key focus of many decarbonisation efforts in rural areas is, understandably, in supporting the transition to electric vehicles. However, in my parents’ case, their village sometimes struggles with mobile reception, let alone any EV charging infrastructure. That’s why DG Cities work growing electric mobility in rural areas is so vital. One aspect of this is identifying gaps in provision. Working with Field Dynamics, the team developed a data visualisation tool to identify areas which are, for different reasons, not attracting public charge point investment.

The factors influencing uptake are political as well as economic. As our research shows, there is a clear link between a local authority having an EV strategy and rates of EV ownership. Right now, DG Cities and Field Dynamics are looking at places, like my parents’ village, to see how they can support local authorities in developing and implementing their strategy to meet zero-carbon targets. To learn a little more about this, here’s a film we produced to explain our approach.

What next?

Car-free July made us question why we have a car at all - just as when we bought it, its main purpose is to visit family outside London. When it reaches the end of its life, we will look at alternatives, whether that is an electric car or short-term leasing and car club for occasional use. We also considered some new micromobility solutions for the first time, like e-bikes and e-scooters, which like many in DG Cities’ survey, I had always been sceptical of. While the We Are Possible challenge didn’t force us to radically change our habits – and we failed it – it has inspired our son to hold us to account on the journeys we take. And he can be quite persuasive.

A bit late, but hello DG Cities!

When someone joins the team, it’s become traditional for them to write a welcome blog explaining their background and the projects they are looking forward to starting. In October last year, I began working part-time with DG Cities on their communications – seven months on, I have found a moment to post something. It’s been a busy time, learning about electric bin lorries, behaviour change interventions, dark fibre, EV charging in the countryside, how driverless cars make sense of rare events, like fighting squirrels and Scotch mist, IoT, and more practically, finding the best cycle route to the Design District in Greenwich… Sarah Simpkin

Early morning cycle through the Royal Naval College, Greenwich

My background is in art and then architecture. I managed written communications for architects, Foster + Partners for almost eight years and still freelance for other design studios and publishers. My experience has often been in explaining the concept end of large-scale urban visions, the design of the buildings and public spaces, whether it’s a proposal for a new cultural district or estuary airport. What interested me about DG Cities was coming to the same subject from a different perspective – people. While architecture is a response to people’s needs, it seemed radical to prioritise asking people what those needs might be. But that is the essence of what the company does; exploring innovations critically, finding their value, gauging public perceptions and developing a strategy for use.

Everything is framed by the challenges of decarbonisation, social equity and inclusion. It’s been interesting to see the reality of implementing the detail of overarching government policy in the messy complexity of cities, tiny villages, existing housing stock, transport and energy networks, and diverse public opinion. But the team never seems daunted by difficult things. They work very collaboratively and bring a mix of private and public sector experience in different fields, like local government leadership, planning, economics, behavioural science and engineering.

“They find creative solutions to do more with less, to extract the greatest possible value from the smallest investment, squeezing every drop of efficiency from existing systems and making places work better for people.”

— Sarah Simpkin

When I first joined, with no public sector experience, there was an occasional language barrier: I wasn’t fluent in acronyms, purdah, consortium partners or the various panels and boards. I’m still not sure I am. But I appreciate their skill in understanding the nitty gritty of how government agencies and local authorities work – it’s something DG Cities brings to their own projects, but I have also seen how they act as the glue between private and public bodies. And not so unlike good architects, they find creative solutions to do more with less, to extract the greatest possible value from the smallest investment, squeezing every drop of efficiency from existing systems and making places work better for people. It is an embedded approach, a way of thinking, which comes through in every strategy or piece of work.

Another change has been the shift in my focus. While I have always tended to take responsibility for writing, at DG Cities, I have been able to share the load; I took over from a talented writer and inherited an impressive bunch of colleagues, happy to quickly compose an engaging comment on the latest heat pump policy or expectations of COP26. This has given me freedom to explore different ways of communicating what we do, in new formats. Keep an eye out for our next feature film, where Kim faces off the challenge of finding space for EV chargers in a small market town.

I’ve been tempted to recommend DG Cities to some of my architecture clients. “Do you have any real evidence from local engagement to back up that approach?” “Did you know there’s a tool to factor in the transport modes people in that development might need a few decades down the line?” It has helped me develop a more nuanced understanding of the different influences that shape the built environment. And it’s keeping me fit – I enjoy Mondays in Greenwich, the cycle there along the C10, past the Royal Naval College and up to the peninsula and a croissant in SelgasCano’s wonderful yellow canteen.

There is so much collective knowledge and experience within the team, these blogs are a great way to regularly share insights from our projects and life at DG Cities, so if there are any topics you’d like to know more about, or ‘ask our experts’ queries, get in touch!