A lot of Berlin's is footpath-based, right? They seem to be talking about segregated bike lanes, so that arguably wouldn't qualify (though it _is_ likely much safer than on-road).

Oh I guess I didn’t know the distinction. As a user of both I actually prefer the footpath based to the segregated bike lanes, although it seems to work best on the widest of Berlins streets where all of the following can coexist laterally:

  - Storefront
  - Outdoor seating 
  - Footpath (room for both ways)
  - Bike lane (one way)
  - Greenery (trees or shrubs)
  - Car door buffer
  - Parking lane
  - One or two lanes one way traffic
  - Green median
  - All the above mirrored for the other side

Example of this is Yorckstr. south of Mitte

Inclined to agree; only real problem with the on-street ones (presuming there's enough room for them) is that visitors unfamiliar with them tend to walk in them and cause a nuisance. The first time I was in Berlin I nearly got hit by a couple of bikes before I realised that the slightly-differently-coloured footpath meant something...