Suddenly an episode with a Dutch title is at the top of the feed of 99% Invisible, a super-famous podcast about how design and architecture influence our lives. ‘The Bicycle Is Nothing‘ (ep.531) is about Dutch bicycle history. The Netherlands is acycling paradise”, but that has not always been the case, says presenter Roman Mars. In the 1960s and 1970s, the number of cars quadrupled and the car seemed to gain an increasingly prominent place in society. But the number of road fatalities also increased considerably. “This was true all over the world (…), but the Dutch revolted.” And so the bicycle becameone of the greatest comeback stories of our time”.
A version of this article also appeared in the newspaper of April 15, 2023.