Normalising cycling mobilities : an age-friendly approach to cycling in the Netherlands
den Hoed, Wilbert and Jarvis, Helen (2021) Normalising cycling mobilities : an age-friendly approach to cycling in the Netherlands. Applied Mobilities. ISSN 2380-0127 (https://doi.org/10.1080/23800127.2021.1872206)
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Abstract
Cycling is promoted as a form of urban travel with well-established benefits to health, liveability and wellbeing. These benefits are known to be larger for older people, a growing segment of many populations. Yet, support for the normalisation of cycling mobilities for 'all ages' varies considerably. It is usual to contrast 'low-cycling' contexts, such as the UK, with 'high-cycling' areas, typically favouring 'highest-rate' paradigmatic urban centres. To challenge a too simplistic imitation and re-creation of engineering solutions elsewhere, we draw attention to diverse cycling habits and norms in an 'ordinary' high-cycling area (suburban Rotterdam), and observe how cycling is normalised throughout the lifecourse. Using mobile and biographical methods, we argue that a more nuanced appreciation of cycling normalisation is gained from viewing ageing and cycling relationally and biographically. This is because the habit-forming realm of normalisation functions through both conscious decisions and unconscious practice, bound up with life events and the external environment. The findings suggest that age-friendly city strategies and urban mobility policies should more closely consider locally constituted social and cultural processes, beyond providing infrastructure. This article thus provides an in-depth account of what it takes for planning and policy to normalise positive, empowering, and age-friendly qualities in everyday mobility.
ORCID iDs
den Hoed, Wilbert
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Item type: Article ID code: 75066 Dates: DateEvent27 January 2021Published27 January 2021Published Online4 January 2021AcceptedKeywords: cycling, mobility, ageing, active ageing, normalisation, mobile methods, International relations, Transportation and Communications, Urban Studies, Transportation, Geography, Planning and Development Subjects: Political Science > International relations
Social Sciences > Transportation and CommunicationsDepartment: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (HaSS) > School of Government and Public Policy > European Policies Research Centre Depositing user: Pure Administrator Date deposited: 14 Jan 2021 16:12 Last modified: 09 Apr 2022 02:39 Related URLs: URI: https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/75066