nÃo hà / Pautando-me numa perspectiva etnogrÃfica â de um contato intersubjetivo e duradouro com um coletivo de usuÃrios da bicicleta na cidade de Fortaleza â, na presente pesquisa, viso a investigar e a refletir sobre o universo do ciclismo urbano, dando especial Ãnfase à sua inerente relaÃÃo e articulaÃÃo com os usos e (re)significaÃÃes dos espaÃos pÃblicos da cidade, as diferentes â e, por vezes, conflituosas â formas de âfazer polÃticaâ e de fruir e construir o espaÃo urbano a partir do uso da bicicleta como forma de deslocamento.Para tanto, parto das narrativas, representaÃÃes e prÃticas cotidianas do ativismo prÃ-bicicleta e das experiÃncias vivenciadas por ciclistas urbanos que gravitam em torno de trÃs coletivos â ou trÃs âmomentosâ â de promoÃÃo e defesa da bicicleta como forma de deslocamento na cidade: o coletivo Massa CrÃtica, a AssociaÃÃo de Ciclistas na Cidade de Fortaleza â a Ciclovida â e o projeto Bike Anjo. As prÃticas cotidianas e o ativismo desses indivÃduos sÃo percebidos por eles mesmos como uma âpolitizaÃÃoâ do tema â cada vez mais em pauta â da mobilidade e circulaÃÃo urbanas, relacionando-os tambÃm, mais amplamente, à prÃpria forma de perceber e vivenciar a cidade e seus espaÃos.O que essa pesquisa aponta à que a uma forma especÃfica â um contra-uso â de fruiÃÃo e uso do espaÃo urbano â de uma prÃtica de espaÃo â ligam-se tambÃm concepÃÃes especÃficas sobre os espaÃos e as temporalidades da cidade. No caso dos ciclistas urbanos, o que à muito caracterÃstico à que emerge, tanto mais a prÃtica à contÃnua, cada vez mais uma perspectiva de â(re)conquistarâ e se â(re)aproximar da cidadeâ â do espaÃo pÃblico, dos outros citadinos, do inesperado, dos encontros casuais â e de âtornÃ-la um lugar melhor atravÃs da bicicletaâ.

Despite the recognised positive benefits of cycling overall and for school children specifically, in most developed countries, a decline rather than an increase in active travel to and from school has been observed during the past few decades. In recent years, the concept of bikeability (or bicycle accessibility) emerged, and together with it various bikeability indices that enable to assess the bicycle friendliness of a location and contribute to prioritization of future investments. However, despite the recognition of specific children’s needs regarding road safety, this study is, to the best of my knowledge, a first one developing a bikeability index that reflects the needs of children on their way to and from school. By reviewing existing streams of (school) accessibility, walkability and urban cycling literature, the study constructs a new school bikeability index and provides a case study of applying the index to primary schools in Stockholm, Sweden, using GIS data. The index, consists of 14, mainly built environment, indicators, weighted by the subjective importance scores assigned to them by children’s caretakers from Stockholm. The case study reveals differences in school bikeability across the focus area. Even the schools that obtained the highest relative score largely lack a cycling infrastructure that would be suitable for children. Further, the study revealed that many schools could significantly improve their bikeability by implementing school-specific measures such as providing bicycle parking, school zone signage or connecting the school entrance with a cycle path or lane directly. Moreover, it revealed shortcomings of the available data regarding cycling infrastructure that Stockholm holds, especially when it comes to reflecting upon the needs of children. Lastly, it has been suggested to consider important interconnectedness among certain indicators for future enhancement of the index and reflect upon varying preferences of certain groups of cyclists and non-cyclists.

Submitted by Daniele Amaral (daniee_ni@hotmail.com) on 2016-09-23T19:09:03Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DissYBC.pdf: 3413811 bytes, checksum: 15a1d9802b831630809df811dba9948a (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Marina Freitas (marinapf@ufscar.br) on 2016-09-26T18:34:50Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DissYBC.pdf: 3413811 bytes, checksum: 15a1d9802b831630809df811dba9948a (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Marina Freitas (marinapf@ufscar.br) on 2016-09-26T18:34:57Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DissYBC.pdf: 3413811 bytes, checksum: 15a1d9802b831630809df811dba9948a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-26T18:35:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DissYBC.pdf: 3413811 bytes, checksum: 15a1d9802b831630809df811dba9948a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-07-02 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / The growing number of cyclists pedaling in Brazilian cities demand an effort of local governments to develop actions to make their cities more bicycle friendly. However, these actions have been carried out without a plan that ensures the necessary priority to bicycle mobility. Thus, this study sought to evaluate how much the Brazilian cities are bicycle friendly, its cyclability. The relief, climate, urban aspects, pollution, integration of cycling with public transport, the quality of roads, safety, cycling infrastructure and government actions of Brazilian cities were evaluated through an online questionnaire answered by 2,925 people throughout Brazil. The survey results presented in this work show a good picture of the current situation of cyclability in Brazil: lack quality of infrastructure, lack of comfortable roads, lack of security and lack of government commitment to bicycle mobility to change this reality. / O crescente número de ciclistas pedalando nas cidades brasileiras demanda um esforço dos governos locais para desenvolver ações em busca de tornar as cidades mais amigas da bicicleta. Porém, estas ações vêm sendo realizadas sem um planejamento que garanta a prioridade necessária à mobilidade por bicicleta. Com isso, esta pesquisa buscou avaliar o quanto as cidades brasileiras são amigas da bicicleta, a Ciclabilidade. O relevo, o clima, aspectos urbanos, a poluição, a integração da bicicleta com o transporte público, a qualidade das vias, a segurança, a infraestrutura cicloviária e as ações governamentais das cidades brasileiras foram avaliadas através de um questionário online respondido por 2925 pessoas de todo o Brasil. Os resultados da pesquisa apresentados nesta dissertação mostram um quadro nada bom da situação atual da Ciclabilidade no Brasil. Falta infraestrutura de qualidade, vias confortáveis, segurança e comprometimento do governo com a bicicleta para alterar esta realidade.

Women tend to be underrepresented among cyclists in many Western cities. The literature on gender and cycling identifies two main reasons to explain the gender gap: differences in risk aversion, and unequally shared domestic responsibilities. While urban cycling policies often focus on developing cycling infrastructures to encourage cycling, this research argues that such approach is not sufficient to achieve diversity among cyclists. The case study of Lyon, in France, provides a good example, as increased cycling infrastructures over the past few years have not prevented the existing gender gap among cyclists in the city. This research uses qualitative methods and feminist theories to investigate the reasons for the lower representation of women among cyclists in Lyon. It focuses especially on the role of the gendered meanings attached to cycling in explaining the gender gap, i.e., how cycling is perceived, interpreted, and appropriated by women. Female cyclists, non-cyclists, and members of cycling associations have thus been interviewed to understand their motivations and barriers to cycling. Numerous aspects impacting negatively cycling levels among women have been raised throughout the interviews, some not directly related to cycling infrastructures. These include a lack of representation of women among cyclists, restraining social norms, and gender inequalities in general. These findings underscore the importance to take into consideration, besides cycling infrastructures, social and cultural factors that may encourage or not women to cycle in urban cycling policies to close the gender gap.

In this diploma thesis I focus on the formation of urban cycling including heterogeneous participating actors - people, discourses, technologies, infrastructures and other materialities. I examine cyclists' relationships with their environment and describe asymmetries connected with the dominant status of automobilism in urban environment, and strategies for contesting this situation. I also focus on cyclo-activist discourse which plays an important role in the empowerment of cyclists in urban traffic. Mobilizing arguments of critical theory and the "right for the city" concept cyclo-advoacy strives to include as many citizens as possible in debate about public space and in this way support pro-cycling developments. From the perspective of actor-network theory (ANT) this strategy has limits due to its operation with stabilized social science categories and I argue that ANT could contribute a more nuanced arguments to cyclo-advocacy with detailed description of connections between cyclists and urban environment, focus on embodiment and emotions and highlighting the role of materialities. It could thereby provide a stronger argument for furthering the pro-cycling development. Key words: urban cycling, automobilism, actor-network theory (ANT), cycloadvocacy, critical theory, materiality

This study investigates the barriers faced by cities in their efforts to increase the number of urban cyclists and aims to identify best practices to fulfil cities' ambitions. The research explores the multi-dimensional nature of the obstacles and highlights the significance of understanding and addressing them effectively. By examining bike policies, sustainable mobility programs, existing literature, and conducting interviews with experts, this study provides insights into the common themes that prevent cities from achieving their goals. The findings contribute to the development of best practices that can support cities in their ambition to increase urban cycling.This study is a multi-case study, where the study compares the city Malmö and The Hague. The Hague is a leading example for bicycle use, while Malmö strives to become a bicycle-friendly city. The methodology employed in this research includes several components: a literature review to explore barriers and enablers of urban cycling, a theoretical analysis, a comprehensive review of bike policies and sustainable mobility documents in both cities and interviews to delve deeper into recurring themes identified in the document analysis. The discussion section integrates the literature review, theory, and results, highlighting the best practices for promoting urban cycling.In this study, the theory of path dependency is employed, which refers to a process where initial moves lead to further moves in the same direction, limiting future choices. It involves three phases: Preformation, Formation, and Lock-in. Additionally, the theoretical framework incorporates the three factors of path dependence identified by Low et al. (2005). These factors are relevant to the study because they relate to urban planning and active transport. The three factors are: technical, institutional, and discursive. Overall, understanding path dependency and its factors (technical, institutional, and discursive) enables more effective strategies in urban planning and active transportation to overcome barriers and promote sustainable cities.Through an analysis of previous research, theory, and results it becomes evident that the establishment of a support base and the implementation of a combination of hard and soft measures play a crucial role in fulfilling cities' bike ambitions. The support base requires diverse stakeholders to understand and support bike policies. Effective communication help engage stakeholders and expand support. Overplanning with various options enhances policy resilience. Striking a balance between hard and soft measures is crucial for increasing urban cyclists. Hard measures like infrastructure development are initially important, but a balanced approach ensures an effective strategy.By adopting these best practices, cities can successfully increase the number of urban cyclists. However, it is important to emphasize that achieving this ambition goes beyond formulating a policy; it requires the establishment of a support base and a balanced approach that incorporates both hard and soft measures. This study provides cities with insights into potential barriers and enablers, offering guidance for examining their specific urban contexts and working towards their cycling goals.