A look at cycleways that are reshaping cities and shifting culture

Short on time? Read the key takeaways.

Not all infrastructure is built for cars, trains, or jet planes. Sometimes it’s a painted lane, a protected path, or a bridge just for bikes.

Bike paths may seem like ‘light’ infrastructure, but they’re high impact, especially when planned as part of broader networks that support health, equity, environment, and connection. The best ones don’t just get us from A to B; they make the journey matter. They are an essential element of modern, sustainable cities.

The benefits of cycleways include:

• Enhanced accessibility
• Improved urban design and added value to public spaces
• Reduced overall energy consumption
• Improved safety for cyclists and less traffic congestion
• Support of public policy goals and sustainability initiatives
• A focus on social connections
• Promotion of health and wellbeing.

From Bogotá to Brisbane, Copenhagen to Kigali, these are the routes where social infrastructure meets freedom of movement and climate resilience.

Five cycleways that go way beyond the bike

1. Superkilen Greenway - Copenhagen, Denmark

Copenhagen’s cycling culture is already world-famous, but the Superkilen Greenway pushes things further. This bold public space cuts through one of the city's most diverse neighbourhoods and uses bike infrastructure as a tool for cultural connection, urban storytelling, and visual identity.

More than a path, it's a kilometre-long art installation co-designed with locals, featuring everything from Moroccan fountains to Russian neon signs. This is cycling infrastructure as social inclusion.

2. Ciclovía - Bogotá, Colombia

Every Sunday in Bogotá, over 120km of city streets shut down to cars and open to bikes, walkers, dancers, skaters, and strollers. It’s called Ciclovía, and it draws around 2 million people each week.

What started as a small experiment in the 1970s is now a global movement copied by cities from Paris to Portland. It’s proof that sometimes, infrastructure is as much about continually evolving the most logical use case.

3. Bicentennial Bikeway - Brisbane, Australia

Hugging the Brisbane River, this separated bike path was once a fringe facility. Now, it’s a backbone of daily commuting in the inner city, connecting South Bank to Toowong and beyond.

It’s not perfect (hello, narrow sections and peak-hour bottlenecks), but it sparked the shift in how Queensland cities treat active transport. Recent extensions and upgrades point to a future where bike lanes are seen as essential infrastructure, not optional extras.

4. Empire State Trail - New York, USA

Spanning a jaw-dropping 750 km across New York State, the Empire State Trail is one of the longest multi-use trails in the U.S. It connects Manhattan to Canada via a network of urban and rural paths.

It’s not just a cycling route, it’s an economic catalyst for small towns, a drawcard for regional tourism, and a climate-conscious commuting option in dense areas.

5. Capital City Trail - Melbourne, Australia

Looping around Melbourne’s inner suburbs, the Capital City Trail is a 29km path that weaves together parklands, rail corridors, riverbanks, and former industrial sites. It offers an alternate map of the city, one defined by access and openness.

Once an afterthought, it’s now a favourite among commuters and weekend riders alike, thanks to upgrades, signage improvements, and better lighting. It links communities without saying a word.

Examples of recent infrastructure projects integrating bikeways

Queensland is actively integrating bikeways into its broader infrastructure projects through a combination of dedicated cycling infrastructure and enhancements to existing transport corridors. Key initiatives underway include:

• The Active Transport Investment Program - Creating a safe, direct, and connected cycling network
• Pacific Motorway Upgrades (e.g. Eight Mile Plains to Daisy Hill) - Including dedicated cycle bridges and improved bikeway access
• Coomera Connector (Stage 1) - Includes provisions for active transport alongside the new road corridor
• New England Highway Bikeway - Connecting Highfields to Toowoomba CBD in multiple stages.

The importance of planning

Planning is essential prior to the business case stage of developing a social infrastructure project, like bikeways, to establish the project's need and establish whether the benefits outweigh the costs. Planning is key to:

• Justify the project and explore strategic alignment - Why a project is needed to ensure it addresses a real problem or opportunity
• Analyse the cost-benefit - Economic benefits (e.g. reduced travel time), social benefits (e.g. improved health, community connectivity), environmental benefits (e.g. reduced emissions)
• Solidify stakeholder confidence - Thorough planning builds trust among stakeholders, such as government, community, and investors, by showing that a project is well planned, feasible, and beneficial.

How BDO can help

BDO can play a significant role in your social infrastructure project’s development, implementation, and optimisation through our strategy and planning, and business case services. Our project and infrastructure advisory team is experienced in public transport systems, assisting in the development of bus networks and bike lanes to help create cities that offer cost-effective and sustainable transportation solutions. Contact us to discuss your next project.