Mikael Colville-Andersen (born 29 January 1968) is a Canadian-Danish

urban design Urban design is an approach to the design of buildings and the spaces between them that focuses on specific design processes and outcomes. In addition to designing and shaping the physical features of towns, cities, and regional spaces, urban d ...

er and urban mobility expert. He was the CEO of Copenhagenize Design Company, which he founded in 2009 in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, and he works with cities and governments around the world in coaching them towards becoming more bicycle friendly. He is the host of the

urbanism Urbanism is the study of how inhabitants of urban areas, such as towns and cities, interact with the built environment. It is a direct component of disciplines such as urban planning, which is the profession focusing on the physical design and ...

documentary television series '' The Life-Sized City'', which premiered in 2017 on

TVOntario TVO Media Education Group (often abbreviated as TVO and stylized on-air as tvo) is a publicly funded English-language educational television network and media organization serving the Canadian province of Ontario. It is operated by the Ontario ...

and in 2018 on various other international channels including Finland's national broadcaster

YLE Yleisradio Oy ( Finnish, literally "General Radio Ltd." or "General Broadcast Ltd."; abbr. Yle ; sv, Rundradion Ab, italics=no), translated to English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, found ...

and Italian broadcaster La Effe. Season 1 of ''The Life-Sized City'' was nominated for five

Canadian Screen Awards The Canadian Screen Awards (french: link=no, Les prix Écrans canadiens) are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media (web series) p ...

in 2018.

Career

Colville-Andersen is known for his philosophy about simplifying

urban planning Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...

and urban cycling and how cities should be designed instead of engineered. He is at the forefront of utilising

observational techniques In marketing and the social sciences, observational research (or field research) is a social research technique that involves the direct observation of phenomena in their natural setting. This differentiates it from experimental research in which a ...

inspired by the likes of William H. Whyte for pedestrian and bicycle planning and has been called "the Modern Day

Jane Jacobs Jane Jacobs (''née'' Butzner; 4 May 1916 – 25 April 2006) was an American-Canadian journalist, author, theorist, and activist who influenced urban studies, sociology, and economics. Her book '' The Death and Life of Great American Cities ...

". He employs anthropology and sociology in his work to develop liveable cities and, in 2012, he spearheaded the largest study of cyclist behaviour ever undertaken – ''The Choreography of an Urban Intersection'' – tracking the

desire line A desire path (often referred to as a desire line in transportation planning), also known as a game trail, social trail, fishermen trail, herd path, cow path, elephant path, goat track, pig trail, use trail and bootleg trail, is an unplanned sma ...

s of 16,631 cyclists through an intersection in Copenhagen over a 12-hour period. His approach and philosophy have led to him being referred to as "the Richard Dawkins of cycling" by Peter Walker of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' in 2014 interview with

Esquire magazine ''Esquire'' is an American men's magazine. Currently published in the United States by Hearst Communications, it also has more than 20 international editions. Founded in 1933, it flourished during the Great Depression and World War II under t ...

, "the Pope of urban cycling" by Canadian newspaper '' La Presse'' and Austrian newspaper Der Standard, among others and "the Bieber of urban cycling" in an interview with

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

. Colville-Andersen has been instrumental in orchestrating the global bicycle boom, starting with what was later called "the Photo That Launched a Million Bicycles" in 2006, which led to the Copenhagen Cycle Chic photography and

streetstyle Street fashion is fashion that is considered to have emerged not from studios, but from the grassroots streetwear. Street fashion is generally associated with youth culture, and is most often seen in major urban centers. Magazines and Newspaper ...

blog in 2007. Regarding his early work with the Cycle Chic movement, The Guardian dubbed him "The

Sartorialist ''The Sartorialist'' is a fashion blog by Scott Schuman in New York City.Fleming, Kirsten; April 1, 2007;Shoots to Twill"; '' The New York Post''; retrieved April 2, 2007. Details After leaving a fashion sales position to take care of his daug ...

on Two Wheels". He coined the phrase cycle chic in 2007, as well as the word ''Copenhagenize'' in the same year. He has also coined and popularised other phrases such as ''Bicycle Urbanism'', ''Viking Biking'', ''Citizen Cyclist'' and he started The Slow Bicycle Movement in 2008. Before embarking on a career as an

er, he was a film director and screenwriter. His debut feature film, ''Zakka West'' (2003), was the first indie film in Denmark and premiered at the Copenhagen International Film Festival. He has written and directed several

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

s, including the award-winning short ''Breaking Up'' (1999), and founded the first pan-European organisation for screenwriters – ''Euroscreenwriters'' – in 1997. As producer for The Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR) bicentenary website for Hans Christian Andersen, he and his team won the

Prix Italia The Prix Italia is an international Television, Radio-broadcasting and Web award. It was established in 1948 by RAI – Radiotelevisione Italiana (in 1948, RAI had the denomination RAI – Radio Audizioni Italiane) in Capri and is honoured with the ...

award at the

Radiotelevisione Italiana RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many terr ...

57th Prix Italia for Best

Public Service A public service is any service intended to address specific needs pertaining to the aggregate members of a community. Public services are available to people within a government jurisdiction as provided directly through public sector agencies ...

Website. In 2013, he made appearances in Edinburgh to help celebrate that city's Bike Week. In 2014, he was cited as one of the influential urban planners suggesting that radical solutions were needed if improvement was to be seen in respect to congestion problems in the city of

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

. He has also explained that cycle parking is needed for cities to be cycle-friendly. He was booked as a keynote speaker at the Velo-city Global conference in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

in May 2014.

Exhibitions

* 2008–2010 ''Dreams on Wheels'', international photo exhibition for The

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Denmark) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark ( da, Udenrigsministeriet, fo, Uttanríkismálaráðið, kl, Nunanut Allanut Ministereqarfik) and its overseas representations (the Danish embassies, diplomatic missions, consulates and trade offices) ...

* 2011–2013 ''Monumental Motion – A Cycling Life in the Danish Capital'', Global exhibition for

* 2010–present ''The Good City – Visions of a City on the Move'', Global exhibition with ''Bicycle Innovation Lab'' – Consultant/Contributor

Bibliography

* ''Copenhagenize – the definitive guide to global bicycle urbanism'', Island Press Publishing Ltd, 2018, 296 pages. . * ''Cycle Chic'', Thames & Hudson Publishing Ltd, 2012, 288 pages. . * ''Cargo Bike Nation'', Blurb Publishing, 2013, 194 pages. . * ''Cyclists and Cycling Around the World'', Fondo Editorial, Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, 2013, Chapter: ''Branding Cycling – Mainstreaming A Good thing'', 334 pages. * ''Backstory 5: Interviews with Screenwriters of the 1990s'', University of California Press, 27 October 2009, Chapter: ''Interview with Jean-Claude Carrière'', Editor – Patrick McGilligan, 264 pages,

Awards

* 2012 Brazilian Youth Award for the ''Escolas de Bicicletas'' – bicycles in schools project in São Paulo, Brazil

References

External links