Plans for pavement or for people? The politics of bike lanes on the ‘Paseo Boricua’ in Chicago, Illinois

Amy Lubitow, Bryan Zinschlag and Nathan Rochester
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Amy Lubitow: Portland State University, USA
Bryan Zinschlag: Portland State University, USA
Nathan Rochester: Portland State University, USA

Urban Studies, 2016, vol. 53, issue 12, 2637-2653

Abstract: Over the course of the past two decades, bicycling has become increasingly popular in the USA. Although the rate of bike trips made in the USA has more than tripled since 1977, it is relatively low compared with many European cities (Pucher et al., 2011a). In urban areas throughout the USA, bicycling is increasingly being touted as an environmentally friendly way to enhance transit choice as public transportation budgets are slashed and automobile infrastructures remain congested. Discourse around the proliferation of bicycling infrastructure development in American cities often obscures complex aspects of community-level choice regarding transit, including the placement and implementation of bike lanes. This paper seeks to explore the dynamic ways that community members and city planners make sense of bike infrastructure development in Chicago, Illinois. Qualitative interviews and participant observation were employed to clarify the community context of bike lane development in a gentrifying area of the city. We find that community engagement is a critical component of promoting the acceptance and use of bike infrastructure and discuss the role of a community bike shop in facilitating community engagement around bicycling in the neighbourhood of Humboldt Park, home to the second largest Puerto Rican community in the USA.

Keywords: bicycling infrastructure; Chicago; city bureaucracy; community; grassroots organisation; race; transport (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:53:y:2016:i:12:p:2637-2653

DOI: 10.1177/0042098015592823

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