I’m not sure, technically, if something can be DIY and crowdsourced, but those seemed like the best adjectives for this bike map for Moscow… other than Awesome!

Bicyclist, activist, and artist Anton Polsky has apparently triggered a ”movement to create a participatory, informal bicycle map for Moscow,” as Shriya Malhotra of Pattern Cities reports. In other words, he’s spawned a crowdsourced bike map for his city.

How did the map develop (or, how is it developing)? Polsky noted down the routes he knew, creating the map on his computer, then opened up the process to anyone who could contribute by sharing it on the web for people to print and add in their favorite routes or facilities.

“What began as a personal art project has now expanded into a movement to create a participatory, informal bicycle map for Moscow. The maps include icons for bike parking spaces, cycle rental locations, and shops.”

“Interestingly, despite being a very bicycle-unfriendly city right now, Moscow says it intends to become one of the world’s friendliest bicycle cities within 5 years. If it’s serious about that, it could certainly use the help of these local citizens and activists,” Malhortra notes. “The importance of this project lies in that findings can be shared with local, city authorities as they begin to create the cities’ bicycle infrastructure. This kind of activism and community involvement is a starting point for effective urban design in Moscow.”

Some public bicycle repair racks and car-free streets might also be nice.

h/t TreeHugger

Zachary Shahan (1960 Posts)

I'm the director of CleanTechnica, the most popular clean energy website in the world, and Planetsave, a leading green and science news site. I've been covering green news of various sorts since 2008, and I've been especially focused on solar energy, electric vehicles, bicycling, and wind energy for the past few years. You can also find my work on Scientific American, Reuters, Think Progress, GE's ecomagination site, several sites in the Important Media network, & many other places. To connect on some of your favorite social networks, go to zacharyshahan.com or click on some of the links below.