Cities around the world are turning to the bicycle to help solve congestion and pollution issues, as urbanization increasingly puts pressure on traditional infrastructure.

Fifteen years ago there were just four bike-sharing schemes in cities around the world, but now there are close to 1,000.

Most require you to pick up and leave a bike at a designated area, but new "dockless" schemes from China are coming to cities around the world - and proving controversial.

Bike schemes are now a common sight in cities
The first public bike-sharing scheme, Velib, launched in Paris in 2007, attracted 20 million users in its first year.

As well as the obvious environmental benefits, it brought considerable health advantages too - Velib users were estimated to have burned more than 19 billion calories in the first six years of the scheme.

Now, new schemes such as ofo, dubbed the Uber for bikes, want a slice of the action.

Ofo is China's largest bike-sharing operator, with an estimated three million daily users across 34 cities in the country.

It is in a further 150 cities worldwide, the BBC reported.

Story Date: June 18, 2018