From Utrecht to Beijing: How the Netherlands Inspired China’s First Multi-Storey Bike Parking

Opened in March 2026 and located in Beijing’s Changping District, China’s first multi-storey bike parking facility at Shahe Metro Station serves one of the capital’s busiest stations, where 95,000 passengers pass through each day. Designed to accommodate up to 8,000 bikes, e-bikes and shared bikes, the €6.48 million (50 million yuan) project is the first of its kind in China and is already being viewed as a potential blueprint for cities across the country.

During the planning and design process, Chinese project leaders undertook an extensive study of international best practices in bike parking and transit-oriented development. Among the global examples considered, one stood above all others: Utrecht Central Station.

Home to the world’s largest bike parking facility, Utrecht has become an international benchmark for integrating cycling with rail transport. Every day, tens of thousands of travellers seamlessly combine bike and train, supported by intuitive wayfinding, efficient circulation, digital management systems and high-quality public space.

According to project officials, Dutch examples were “systematically referenced and drawn upon,” particularly regarding management, operations and user behaviour. Rather than simply copying architectural elements, the design team sought to understand the underlying principles that make Dutch cycling infrastructure function efficiently at such scale.

Covering approximately 15,000 square metres, the above-ground structure connects directly to the metro station via an elevated pedestrian corridor. Separate zones accommodate private bicycles, personal e-bikes, shared bicycles and shared e-bikes, allowing thousands of commuters to transfer quickly between cycling and public transport.

The facility incorporates features increasingly familiar to Dutch travellers but still innovative within China: digital parking guidance, smart monitoring systems, repair services, battery charging facilities, convenience retail, community spaces and even employment services. Solar panels and heat pumps contribute to the building’s sustainability, while a mobile application enables users to locate available parking spaces, find their parked bicycle and access wider mobility services.

Project leaders also recognised notable similarities between Utrecht and Shahe. While Utrecht serves a regional population of around 370,000 people, Shahe has approximately 300,000 residents and combines dense residential neighbourhoods with university campuses, technology parks and a major metro interchange. Both locations experience large commuter flows and require efficient connections between local trips and high-capacity public transport.

These similarities made Utrecht a particularly relevant case study. The Dutch city demonstrates how large-scale bicycle infrastructure can reduce congestion, improve the passenger experience and maximise the efficiency of public transport without requiring additional road capacity.

Many of those same principles now underpin the Shahe project, including direct routes, intuitive circulation, integrated services and sophisticated operational management that helps distribute bicycle flows throughout the facility.

Within months of opening, daily parking demand exceeded 5,500 bicycles and e-bikes. More than 6,000 square metres of surrounding public space have been reclaimed from informal bicycle parking, improving the station environment for pedestrians and other users.

Passengers now save between five and seven minutes on their daily multimodal journey, while the station has recorded service volumes of more than 16,000 users in a single day. These early results suggest that providing high-quality bicycle infrastructure can significantly increase the attractiveness and efficiency of public transport.

Although inspired by the Netherlands, the Shahe project is not a copy of Utrecht. Rather, it illustrates how Dutch planning principles can be adapted to local circumstances, larger urban populations and different travel patterns.

This approach reflects a broader trend in international cycling development. Increasingly, cities are not importing Dutch infrastructure wholesale but are learning from the processes, governance and design philosophies that underpin successful cycling systems.

For the Netherlands, projects such as Shahe demonstrate the growing international influence of Dutch cycling expertise. Decades of investment in integrated mobility, knowledge sharing and practical innovation are now helping shape transport solutions far beyond Europe.

If Shahe becomes the national model that many observers expect, the lessons first developed in Dutch cities may soon influence hundreds of rapidly growing Chinese urban areas. In that sense, the significance of this project extends well beyond a single metro station. It is another example of how Dutch cycling knowledge continues to inform the future of sustainable mobility on a global scale.