fact finder
Status: 08/24/2021 4:19 p.m.
In the election campaign, the sense of promoting cargo bikes is discussed. One argument against it is that it is only attractive to city dwellers. However, a large part of the population lives in urban areas.
By Patrick Gensing, editorial office ARD fact finder
In the debate about state funding for cargo bikes, politicians criticize that the measure is presumably only attractive or useful for a few people. For example, FDP deputy parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr told the AFP news agency: “We will not save the world climate by subsidizing cargo bikes in Berlin-Kreuzberg.”
“Cargo bikes can be of help in some cities, but in rural areas they practically do not help anyone,” said left-wing parliamentary group leader Amira Mohamed Ali of the newspaper “Die Welt”.
Rural map
So does the discussion only affect a small part of the population? In fact, cargo bikes are unlikely to play a relevant role in traffic in rural areas. And if you look at the Federal Institute for Building, Urban and Spatial Research on corresponding maps, it becomes clear that large parts of the Federal Republic are characterized by rural and sparsely populated districts.
The institute also examines the “favorable and unfavorable location” of circles as a structural feature – and arranges some areas for example in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania or Schleswig-Holstein as “very peripheral”.
Very few live in the country
However, only relatively few people live in the vast rural regions – and accordingly the more densely populated districts and cities take up a much smaller area, but the overwhelming number of people live there.
The Information from the Federal Statistical Office according to less than 15 percent of the population live in communities with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants – but around 40 percent in cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants. 17 percent of all citizens in Germany live in large cities with more than half a million inhabitants.
The statisticians differentiate between:
– Large cities: around 500,000 inhabitants and more
– Smaller cities with less than 500,000 inhabitants
– Larger medium-sized cities with a center of 50,000 inhabitants and more
– Smaller medium-sized towns with a center of 20,000 to 50,000 inhabitants
– Larger small towns with a center of 10,000 inhabitants and more
– Small towns with a center of fewer than 5,000 to 10,000 inhabitants or a basic function
– rural communities
The trend towards more and more people living in cities continues and can also be observed internationally. The United Nations, among others, offers extensive statistics on the distribution of the population in rural areas and urban areas.
It is not yet possible to assess whether the effects of the corona pandemic will sustainably reverse this trend; According to studies, at least more people are planning to move to the country.
Many factors are important
The extent to which cargo bikes could actually be a useful addition to mobility for many people in metropolitan areas and large cities depends on numerous factors. The fact that most people live in the country anyway and that the discussion therefore only affects a small part of the population seems at least questionable in view of the data.
The question of how mobility and more climate protection can be achieved is a central question in the election campaign. This applies, among other things, to the promotion of e-cars or a speed limit on motorways. The positions of the parties in the election campaign can be found here: