Urban design is primarily about predicting how users will respond to a created environment. These interactions are influenced by architecture, landscaping, environmental graphics, and street design and should provide users with a positive sensory experience. Yet, the built environment is usually designed over a long period of time by many different people with many different ideas and priorities, resulting in an environment that is typically designed without you in mind. You are a person with thoughts, feelings, needs and desires. You are more than a traffic flow issue, or a capacity problem, or a statistical data point. Predicting a user's behaviour is easier when you can empathise with other people and design according to their emotional responses.

Much like the design process, this project is a journey of discovery. We begin with the simple notion that cycling is an enjoyable form of transportation and many cities around the world recognize the benefits of cycling and have invested heavily in bicycle infrastructure to encourage more people to ride bikes. Yet, even though Tokyo already has a large cycling population it lacks quality bicycle infrastructure and officials often devise antagonistic bicycle policies.

This project is about figuring out where urban design in Tokyo fails to take into account the experiences of its cyclists. Why do municipalities and property owners fail to see the improved aesthetics and life affirming nature of human scale design brought about by liveable streets? Is it impossible to design an amazing cycling experience across a megacity like Tokyo? Is it just too hard to design with compassion?