CYCLING CITY - "HOUTEN"

Imagine a city where bicycles aren't just another way to get around but the main focus of city planning. Welcome to Houten, a town in the Utrecht province of the Netherlands. Many urban planners around the world see Houten as the example of a "Cycling City".

Lots of cities are now trying to add bike lanes to roads that're mostly for cars.. Houten was built from scratch to focus on people-friendly transport, not cars.

In the 1970s Houten was a small village with just a few thousand people. The Dutch government said it would grow so planners had to decide: follow the car-friendly approach or try something new. They chose the approach.

Urban planner Robert Derks led the design of Houten. The town has a ring road system.

•  The ring road lets cars drive around the town easily. They can't drive straight through the       center.
•  The town center is for cyclists, pedestrians and public transport.

If you want to drive from one side of town to the other you have to go around the ring road.. Cyclists can go straight through the middle without any interruptions. In Houten bicycles are always the most convenient choice. Because cars are on the ring road the residential streets are quiet and safe. Kids can cycle to school on their own, from a young age.

Cyclists do not have to deal with a lot of cars because there are paths for bikes. These paths are like bridges or tunnels that let cyclists go under or over the roads where cars are driving. When bicycles and cars do meet the cars have to slow down and let the bicycles go first. The cars are, like visitors  they have to follow the rules of the road and let the cyclists go.

Houten is made up of two groups of houses called Houten-Noord and Houten-Zuid. Houten-Noord was planned a time ago back in the 1970s. Houten-Zuid was built later in the late 1990s and 2000s. Even though they were built at times they were planned in a similar way. When Houten built Houten-Zuid it showed that the idea of Houten could work for a lot of people 50,000. Houten is mostly houses with a market in the middle and a few small factories. The best part is that every area has bike paths, around it so people can ride their bikes easily.

For people who live in Houten and cannot ride a bike because they are old or it is weather or they are not physically able Houten has a bus system called U-OV that runs on time.The people who planned the bus system in Houten did a job. They made sure that the buses do not get in the way of people who are riding bikes on streets. They also made sure that the buses can move without getting stuck in car traffic. There is something called the Ring Access. This is where buses can drive on a road that goes around the outside of Houten. This road is called the Rondweg. It helps buses move quickly around the city.

There are also gates that only let buses through. These gates are like doors that open and close. They let buses go into the neighborhoods where people live.. They do not let regular cars go through. This is because the city wants to make sure that people who take the bus can get where they need to go. The city does not want cars to slow down the buses. This way the bus is always faster, than a car.

Houten shows us that the way we plan our towns is really important. The traffic in a town is something we can control. If we make towns that're good for cars then we will have a lot of cars.. If we make towns that are good for people and bicycles then we will have a town that is healthy, quiet and safe. A lot of towns are having problems, with the earth getting hot, too much traffic and people getting sick. Houten is an example of what can happen when a town decides to make bicycles a priority.