Copenhagen dethroned. The best cycling metropolis in the world was chosen

Utrecht was recognized as the most cyclist-friendly city in the world in the latest Copenhagenize Index. The Dutch city overtook Copenhagen. The only Polish representative in the ranking is Wrocław, classified in 28th place.

This is the first edition of the ranking in which the Dutch city overtook the current leader, Copenhagen. The next places were: Ghent, Amsterdam and Paris.

The authors of the Copenhagenize Index emphasize that In Utrecht, residents make almost one third of all journeys by bikeand infrastructure is designed with “flow, precision and efficiency” in mind, with cycling as the starting point of urban planning. The city invests approximately EUR 63 per inhabitant per year in bicycle infrastructure and offers over 100,000. parking spaces, including the world's largest covered bicycle parking lot at Utrecht Centraal station.

The report particularly praises the transformation of Nachtegaalstraat, Amsterdamsestraatweg and Westelijke Stadsboulevard. In the first case, the street was transformed into a “fietsstraat”, i.e. a bicycle street with priority for 15,000 people. cyclists per day. Parking spaces for cars have been removed along Amsterdamsestraatweg, bicycle paths have been widened and speed bumps have been introduced. The former four-lane Westelijke Stadsboulevard has been transformed into a green, quiet thoroughfare with safer pedestrian crossings.

The Copenhagenize Index covers 100 cities around the world and is assessed based on 13 criteriaamong others infrastructure, cycling culture, spatial planning and transport policy. The authors point out that the top rankings are dominated by European cities, and there is not a single city from the United States in the top 30.

The best cycling city in Poland – according to the Copenhagenize Index 2025 – is Wrocław. The capital of Lower Silesia took 28th place in the world, ahead of, among others, Canadian Quebec (29th) and Vancouver (30th). As the authors of the index emphasize, Wrocław has 428 km of bicycle routes, is developing logistics hubs for cargo bicycles, and the share of bicycle trips reaches 5%, supported by an extensive system of city bicycles, including tandems, children's and electric bicycles.

The Copenhagenize Index is a ranking run by Denmark's Copenhagenize Design Company that awards cities scores for their efforts to establish cycling as a mode of transportation. Cities with over 600,000 inhabitants residents are assessed every two years. The index gives an overview of global developments in urban cycling.

From Amsterdam Patryk Kulpok (PAP)

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