Katja leyendecker - RGS Midterm// Newcastle March 2016

Invading automability - contesting urban cycle space from above and below

1. Invading   automobility C ontesting urban cycle space from above and below Katja Leyendecker PhD research Northumbria University Newcastle NEXT EXIT RGS Midterm 2016 Newcastle 17 March 2016 #rgsmidterm

2. Structure of presentation My research and aim Urban environment and people Method: think aloud + follow up Challenging perceptions #rgsmidterm

3. Credit @ amsterdamize

4. Credit @ amsterdamize

5. 1. My research and aims Moral framework Spatial, social and environmental justice (Lefebvre , Jacobs , Harvey, Soja , etc …) Theoretical framework Socio-ecological model: person, society and environment + politics , see Jensen model: Methodology City comparison, Germany and UK Largely qualitative methods Main difference in the cities C ycling levels and protected cycleways Policy and road environment (above) People’s perception (below) #rgsmidterm

6. 2. Urban environment and people People typically know the benefits of cycling People cycle when their local environments are supportive i t is designed into the urban fabric Key ingredient Protected c ycleways on main roads ie on direct routes (Pooley, Pucher ) But People ’s view can be fast/ snap, static/engrained, habitual People ‘support’ perceived status quo and social norm People ’s view can be irrational People may have fear / anxiety of change People find it hard to imagine (spatial) change Recent UK cycleway schemes saw backlash #rgsmidterm

7. 3 . Method : think aloud + follow up 1 . Film the road environment 2. Recruit a small number of participants 3. Screen the street representation(s) to the participants 4. Use think-aloud method to gain insights Product testing tool Catches early reactions, 1 st impressions To r eveal thought processes What people (don’t) notice, ie dangers, perceived dangers, subjective safety, level of comfort, ease and difficulty Compare to comments made about the unfamiliar environment 5 . Consider f ollow up / in depth #rgsmidterm

8. Backlash and think-aloud interviews What / who is (behind) backlash ? How can backlash be managed, or prevented? Why? If we knew the answers to the questions, decision-makers, neoliberal ones in particular, would be more at ease when proposing transport transition projects. 4 . Challenging perceptions #rgsmidterm

9. Thanks for listening Contact Email [email protected] Blog https ://katsdekker.wordpress.com / Twitter @ katsdekker #rgsmidterm

10. References Ericsson , K. A., & Simon, H. A. (1993). Protocol Analysis: verbal reports as data - Please think aloud . Massachusetts: MIT Press . Harvey, D. (2008). The right to the city. New left review, NLR53 , 23-40 Jacobs, J. (1993). The Death and Life of Great American Cities : Vintage Books . Jensen, O. B. (2013). Staging mobilities : Routledge. Lefebvre, H., & Nicholson-Smith, D . (1991). The production of space . Oxford: Basil Blackwell. Someren , M. W., Barnard, Y. F., & Sandberg, J. A. C. (1994). The Think Aloud method: A practcal guide to modelling cognitive processes . London: Academic Press Ltd. Pooley, C. G., Jones, T., Tight, M., Horton, D., Scheldeman , G., Mullen, C., . . . Strano , E. (2013). Promoting Walking and Cycling : New Perspectives on Sustainable Travel . Bristol: Policy Press . Pucher, J. R., & Buehler, R. (2012). City cycling : MIT Press . Sadik -Khan, J., & Solomonow , S. (2016). Streetfight : Handbook for an Urban Revolution by Viking, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group. Soja , E. W. (2010). Seeking spatial justice . Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press . #rgsmidterm

11. Abstract Invading  automobility – contesting urban cycle space from above and below Cities are constantly changing and reinventing themselves, through policy, planning and engineering, undergoing transitions, envisaging new fortunes and futures. Yet transport spaces, city roads and streets, have stayed devoted to the private car, even when urban space comes at a premium. Reimaging city life with ‘less car’ in it, remains a continual challenge. What is needed to discontinue traditional transport thinking and disrupt the car-oriented trend of automobility (1)? Cycling, as such, is a disruptor of the system of automobility . As an opposing force, velomobility (2) claims its own space, rules and demands its own logic. My PhD research takes place in two cities, one with high cycling levels (Bremen, Germany), and the other with low levels of cycling ( NewcastleGateshead , UK). The purpose of the research is to bring together both top-down decision-making and bottom-up street use and perception. It will examine people’s observations about their natural street environment as well as confront them with unfamiliar environments. The exploration will be achieved by combining mobile space visualisation and interview techniques. The car entered the urban arena about a century ago – only very recently in evolutionary terms. Just how deep does automobility run in homo urbanus ? The presentation brings together theories on urban space, and raises methodological questions of conducting an effective investigation into the disruption of automobility . Keywords : Space perception, city cycling, urban transition, transport policy Urry , J. (2004). The ‘System’ of Automobility . Theory, Culture & Society, 21(4-5), 25-39. doi : 10.1177/0263276404046059 Koglin , T. (2014). Vélomobility and the politics of transport planning. GeoJournal , 80, 569-586.  doi : 10.1007/s10708-014-9565-7 #rgsmidterm