The Mini-Hollands scheme was introduced in March 2014 by

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...

, then

Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current ...

. It took the form of a competition among

outer London Outer London is the group of London boroughs that form a ring around Inner London. Together, the inner and outer boroughs form London, the capital city of the United Kingdom. The population at the 2021 Census was 5,395,500, which means over 60% o ...

boroughs A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

for a £100-million fund. Three boroughs –

Waltham Forest The London Borough of Waltham Forest () is an outer London borough formed in 1965 from the merger of the municipal boroughs of Leyton, Walthamstow and Chingford. The borough's administrative headquarters are at Waltham Forest Town Hall, wh ...

, Enfield and

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

– won £30 million each, and the remaining £10 million was shared by several other boroughs. The scheme supported the boroughs to build Dutch-style

cycling infrastructure Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of bicycle pedal, pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the ...

such as

traffic calming Traffic calming uses physical design and other measures to improve safety for motorists, car drivers, pedestrians and bicycle-friendly, cyclists. It has become a tool to combat speeding and other unsafe behaviours of drivers. It aims to encour ...

, segregated

bike lane Bike lanes (US) or cycle lanes (UK) are types of bikeways (cycleways) with lanes on the roadway for cyclists only. In the United Kingdom, an on-road cycle-lane can be firmly restricted to cycles (marked with a solid white line, entry by motor ...

s, safety measures at junctions and blocking residential streets to car traffic. It aimed to encourage

modal shift A modal share (also called mode split, mode-share, or modal split) is the percentage of travelers using a particular type of transportation or number of trips using said type. In freight transportation, this may be measured in mass. Modal share ...

from car to bike for short journeys.

Borough plans

Enfield

* separate bus and cycle lanes and the prohibition of through traffic in Church Street * A Dutch-style roundabout with segregated cycle lanes at Edmonton Green * lightly segregated cycle lanes along the A1010, A105 and A110 * a network of

Quietway This is a list of cycle routes in London that have been waymarked with formal route signage include 'Cycleways' (including 'Cycle Superhighways' and 'Quietways) and the older London Cycle Network, all designated by the local government body Tra ...

s and Greenways across the borough * cycle hubs providing bike parking at Enfield Town and Edmonton Green railway stations

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: Kingston, Jamaica Kingston upon Hull, England City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

* a cycle hub at Kingston railway station and upgrading of the station square * a cycle bridge from the station to the Thames riverfront * the Go Cycle cycle path network

Waltham Forest The London Borough of Waltham Forest () is an outer London borough formed in 1965 from the merger of the municipal boroughs of Leyton, Walthamstow and Chingford. The borough's administrative headquarters are at Waltham Forest Town Hall, wh ...

* traffic calming in Walthamstow Village, Leyton and Leytonstone, including several dozen blended ‘Copenhagen’ crossings, with continuous footways across side streets * 22 kilometres of segregated cycle lanes, including 4 kilometres of Lea Bridge Road As a result, Waltham Forest won the 2017 London Transport Award for ‘Transport Borough of the Year’.

Evaluation

In June 2018 the ''Guardian'' reported on a study by Westminster University which interviewed 1,712 people in the three boroughs. The study found that after one year: * While cycling increased by an average of 9 minutes a week, walking increased by 32 minutes a week; * there was no evidence that the mini-Hollands benefited cycling at the expense of other modes: for example that time spent in cars was increasing due to congestion, or that walking was becoming less attractive; * There was no significant reduction in overall car use; * public attitudes to cycling became more positive, across demographic and socioeconomic groups. Research published in the March 2021 edition of the ''Journal of Transport & Health'' measured the programme's impact on local residents. Among these are: * health economic benefit of £724m from interventions costing £80m * increased likelihood of meeting active travel and physical activity targets

Negative Criticism

In February 2018, ''CityMetric'' criticised the slow roll-out of the programme and reported flaws in public consultation and opposition from some residents.

References

{{reflist

External links

* Waltham Forest Mini-Holland Design Guide

* Department for Transport Case study: ''London Mini Hollands - Building Dutch-style cycle infrastructure in outer London boroughs''
London Mini Hollands
* Slide presentation ''Waltham Forest Mini-Holland Tour'' (September 2016)

Cycling in London 2014 in London Cycling infrastructure in the United Kingdom