Lars Strömgren on Creating a Cycling City

In this episode, I’m joined by Lars Strömgren, 𝗩𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗨𝗿𝗯𝗮𝗻 𝗘𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 in Stockholm, and one of the people most responsible for Sweden’s cycling boom.

We explore how Stockholm went from a city with less than 1% cycling modal share in the 1980s to one of the most bike-friendly places in Europe. Lars reflects on how his childhood on his grandmother’s bike shaped his passion for urban planning, and why he sees infrastructure, narrative and community engagement as the holy trinity of sustainable mobility.

We talk about the normalisation of cycling (and how it shifted from working-class mode to middle-class badge of honour), the fight to introduce zero emission zones and how livable streets can go from controversial to loved.

Lars also shares why it’s hard to take a photo of clean air, but easy to show people enjoying a tree-lined street!

We also discuss some unexpected angles: how my local high street in Walthamstow inspired parts of Stockholm, what it means to use storytelling as a tool in planning and why building cities out of wood might be the next frontier in sustainability.

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