There’s a interesting short post on the Cityfix blog about what factors encourage people to walk and cycle more, and it turns out that climate and geography have less of an effect than supportive bike culture and bike education.

They go on to say that people are also willing to walk and bike longer than planners generally assume, and that while aesthetics along a route sometimes get more focus from planners, these considerations are actually secondary for everyday users, where distance to key destinations, connections and lack of barriers matter the most for everyday users.

In Hong Kong, we have been pushing the government for a long time to directly support cycling as a mode of transport and to properly educate drivers in particular, so as to promote a better and more healthy bike culture. With the more recent discussions about allowing more mainland cars into Hong Kong, having a thoughtful and coordinated urban plan for Hong Kong that includes pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure considerations is more essential now than ever before.