Study abroad course expands to explore biking culture in Berlin

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Over the course of eight years, Penn State students enrolled in the “Bicycling Culture and Urban Design” study abroad course have spent two weeks during the summer navigating Copenhagen, Denmark, a city that offers nearly 250 miles of biking lanes.

The course was created as a collaboration between the Department of Landscape Architecture in the Stuckeman School in the College of Arts and Architecture and the Department of Kinesiology in the College of Health and Human Development.

According to Mallika Bose, associate dean for research, creative activity and graduate studies and professor of landscape architecture in the College of Arts and Architecture, it was a natural fit.

“Landscape architecture deals with the built and natural environment and the planning of cities and regions, while kinesiology deals with physical activity and its benefits to human health,” explained Bose, who is a course instructor. “Biking promotes physical activity, is easy for a large segment of the population, and can be done relatively inexpensively if there is the infrastructure for it, plus it promotes sustainability in urban design.”

This year, students in the faculty-led course also explored Berlin, Germany, which has a high and growing rate of bicycle commuting.

According to Melissa Bopp, professor of kinesiology, who leads the course with Bose, while in Berlin, students continued learning about the bicycle infrastructure throughout the city as well as social/community programs like the Bikeygees program, which teaches immigrant women how to ride a bicycle. Additionally, the students were given a bicycle tour of various Berlin Wall sites.

“In Copenhagen, bicycle culture is well established and integrated into many aspects of daily life and inclusive of all ages. The infrastructure is extensive, and driver behavior shows a healthy respect for bicycles,” Bopp said. “Berlin is evolving as a cycling city. Its infrastructure uses a different approach and does not separate cars and cyclists as much as Copenhagen, though is quite developed compared to many American cities.”

Bose said that Copenhagen is a smaller, more compact city that is flat, making it more conducive to biking. Even though Berlin is a much larger and complex city with many relying on cars, she said, a significant proportion of the population bike regularly.

According to student feedback, there are many strong takeaways from the course. Both cities normalize cycling as a primary mode of transportation, reducing car dependency and emissions. Cycling also reduces transportation costs — such as maintenance, fuel and parking — and promotes interaction with city offerings, such as cafes, markets and other small businesses.

Another key takeaway from the course is the sense of community that bicycling fosters in both cities. Programs that support cycling provide cyclists with a sense of belonging. It also allows for more personal interaction while on the road.

An overarching theme experienced by students in the course was viewing bicycling as a long-term, multi-generational investment that benefits the overall health of the communities now and into the future.

Bose said the students understood how biking can influence all aspects of life in Copenhagen, which has embraced biking as part of the city’s identity.

“Students understood the linkages between biking, health, infrastructure development, issues of equity, quality of life and sustainability,” Bose said. “I am convinced that this would not be possible in such a short time if it weren’t for the fact that the students actually had the experience of living that life during the course.”

For more information on future offerings of the course or any of the University’s study abroad programs, visit ea.psu.edu.