Radbahn Berlin
Client
self-initiated
In cooperation with
initially as "Team Radbahn Berlin" (2014-16), then as a founding member of paper planes eV (2016-present)
Our services
Co-initiator, head of text and narration, conception and implementation of the successful crowdfunding campaign, author of the Radbahn book
The challenge
Before autumn 2015, there was little talk in Berlin about the need for better cycling infrastructure. Sure, there were alternative transport clubs and the Senate's brochures on "Berlin as a Cycling City"—but real progress on the issue of cycle paths wasn't made, and that didn't seem to bother anyone.
But how can momentum be injected into this development? Can a single initiative's claim change a city's cycling strategy?
I developed the idea for the Radbahn concept from mid-2014 onwards with a small, interdisciplinary team of international Berliners, which is reflected in the concept as it brought together traffic, strong images and contemporary campaign design.
The tactic
When German car manufacturers became embroiled in the emissions scandal in autumn 2015, a momentum for transport policy arose that we knew how to capitalize on: On November 15th, we launched the cycle path campaign via social media. Within just a few days, the concept had 10,000 Facebook fans, received nationwide media attention, and won the Federal EcoDesign Award.
Just six days after our publication, the Berlin Cycling Referendum launched its campaign, and less than three weeks later, 197 countries agreed to the climate agreement in Paris. Suddenly, the need for a transport revolution was being discussed in Berlin and Germany.
In the following years, we will further develop the concept into a nine-kilometer-long innovation corridor with a cycle route at its core.
Thanks to a well-prepared crowdfunding campaign, the project succeeded in gaining more than 950 paying supporters in 2017, enabling the financing of the accompanying book: “Radbahn Berlin: Zukunftsperspektiven für die ökomobile Stadt” (Berlin Cycle Path: Future Perspectives for the Eco-Mobile City). With this book, we are increasingly succeeding in generating interest in the project among Berlin's state politicians across party lines.
The result
The project, long criticized as a “utopia”, has now been successfully implemented as a test laboratory in the urban space, and further steps towards realizing a longer section are in the pipeline.
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