1. Amsterdam, Netherlands

Score: 83

2011 Rank: 1

Why It Works: Amsterdam defends the title as the world's most bicycle-friendly city in the 2013 Copenhagenize Index. The city continues to do well in nearly every category. Amsterdam does almost everything right.

What the city lacks in a uniform infrastructure design it more than makes up for with its impressive saturation of bicycle traffic in the compact city centre. Municipal and national political will contributes to their score, as does having all the required necessities like infrastructure and facilities. The widespread 30 km/h zones are instrumental in slowing the city and keeping people safe.

The cycling atmosphere is relaxed, enjoyable, and as mainstream as you can get. This is the one place on the planet where fear-mongering about cycling is non-existent and it shows. There are few places we enjoy urban cycling as much as in Amsterdam.

Fixes: As we mentioned in the 2011 Index, Amsterdam could benefit from some creative thinking and innovation to improve cycling conditions and increase the modal share even further.

We love cycling in Amsterdam but it would be more enjoyable if we didn't have to guess what the next stretch of cycle track will look like.

There is more chatter about what to do about the Scooter Scourge and we look forward to some serious action on this front. Amsterdam, like the other Dutch cities on the Top 20 list, coasts to its placement based on status quo more than innovative thinking.

Scoring: Cities were given between 0 and 4 points in 13 categories, with a potential 12 bonus points for particularly impressive efforts or results, for a maximum of 64 points. The final score was adjusted to be out of 100. Categories included advocacy, bicycle culture, cycling facilities, infrastructure, bike share program, gender split, modal share, modal share increase since 2006, perception of safety, politics, social acceptance, urban planning, and traffic calming. See the full index at Copenhagenize.