[URBAN NOTE] "The Building Blocks of Bike Culture: Social Engagement and Promotional Strategies"

[rfmcdonald]

At Spacing, George Poulos writes about ways other cities have built up strong cycling cultures.

When it comes to building a bike culture, we here in Canada often look upon the “live-work velodromes” of Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and the like with considerable envy. So well ingrained are the quirky intangibles that make up a vibrant bike culture that not even a Københavnere (resident of Copenhagen) would be able to tell you what makes it so – it just is.

While we may not be so fortunate as to have ultra flat cities laid out on quaint medieval templates, many dedicated individuals, professionals, and interest groups have succeeded at defying the common refrain that cycling “just won’t work here”. Indeed, cycling is on the rise in Canada’s cities.

And yet, rather than taking on board and supporting the multitude of social changes which have lead to this growth, the larger narrative surrounding the prospect of more urban cycling has largely been pigeonholed into a debate over “bike lanes” and other grudge matches over rights to public space.

That growing cities with the means to accommodate active mode shares should be exploring strategies to tap into latent demand for cycling is an idea that is gaining more and more traction in Canada. Undoubtedly, the business case for investing in active transportation is very compelling.

And, while many municipalities (such as Toronto, Vancouver, and Calgary, etc.) have succeeded in implementing designs to respond to growing cycling demands, they have largely done so through infrastructure based strategies alone (with a few exceptions). Certainly, no municipality could ever hope to sustain a growth in cycle mode shares without providing an attractive, safe, and convenient means of travel for cyclists. However, limiting efforts to strictly infrastructure build-outs is to leave some very powerful tools on the shelf.

Go, read.