The Copenhagenize Index 2025 – EIT Urban Mobility Edition places Christchurch (38th) and Wellington (47th) among the world’s top 50 bicycle-friendly cities. In the Asia & Oceania region, they rank in the top five, making New Zealand the strongest cycling performer in Oceania.
This recognition matters. The Copenhagenize Index is not a simple infrastructure count, but a holistic benchmark that evaluates how safely, confidently, and routinely people can move through a city by bicycle. It measures cycling through three pillars: Safe & Connected Infrastructure, Usage & Reach, and Policy & Support.
How Bicycle-Friendly Are New Zealand Cities?
New Zealand cities score particularly strongly on Policy & Support. Both Christchurch and Wellington demonstrate solid political commitment, planning capacity, and advocacy ecosystems, foundations that many cities globally still lack.
Wellington is also noted among a very small group of cities reporting zero cyclist fatalities in the reference period, alongside leading European cities. This points to tangible safety outcomes, not just policy intent.
Taken together, the report positions New Zealand as a country that has moved beyond ad-hoc cycling projects and into system-level thinking.
Where the gap remains?
Despite this progress, New Zealand cities trail the global leaders on Usage & Reach, the pillar that reflects how mainstream cycling is in everyday life. Wellington’s Usage & Reach score (31.8) illustrates that cycling is still far from a default transport choice for a large share of the population.
The report also flags recent political shifts and tighter public budgets as a potential risk to long-term momentum in New Zealand, particularly for delivering and maintaining high-quality infrastructure at scale.
Why Europe dominates the rankings
European cities remain heavily overrepresented at the top of the Index, and the report is explicit about why.
It is not climate, not wealth, and not culture alone. The strongest predictors of success are:
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Decades of continuous investment
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Compact, dense urban form
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Evidence-based governance, including systematic data collection, monitoring, and iteration
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Cycling as a social norm, across genders, ages, and income groups
In leading European cities, cycling is no longer framed as an “alternative mode”. It is embedded into how streets are designed, how budgets are allocated, and how cities learn from real-world use.
The real takeaway for New Zealand
The Copenhagenize Index is clear: this is not a league table, but a learning instrument.
New Zealand’s cities have built strong foundations, particularly in governance and safety. The next step is consistency over time: scaling networks, improving everyday usability, and ensuring cycling remains politically protected through changing economic and electoral cycles.
Europe’s overrepresentation does not diminish New Zealand’s achievement. It shows what becomes possible when cycling policy survives long enough to become invisible, simply part of how a city works.
The question is no longer whether New Zealand cities can be bicycle-friendly. It is whether they can sustain the long-term conditions that make cycling ordinary.
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