More than bike lanes Recognising the physical and social characteristics of urban cycling environments

Although the rise of cycling in the urban policy agenda has led to a rapid growth of cycling research in recent years, most studies have focused their attention on physical planning measures in geographical contexts with low cycling rates. Despite the value of these studies, they can tell us little about the defining physical and social characteristics of mature cycling environments. What distinguishes the urban fabric of a mature cycling city like Amsterdam? Is it its physical layout, or its more intangible social qualities? Through an exploration of the contemporary socio-spatial dynamics of cycling in Amsterdam across a variety of geographical scales, the objective of my thesis is to provide us with a better understanding of defining physical and social characteristics of urban cycling environments. Given the current relative lack of integration between quantitative and qualitative perspectives on urban cycling, my project adopts a mixed methods design which seeks to incorporate both approaches: the research methods used in my project include statistical and GIS analysis, but also in-depth qualitative interviews and a large-scale online survey. A central premise of my thesis that understanding what truly makes an urban cycling environment requires us to move beyond a narrow focus on bikeability and measurable physical environment characteristics. Instead, I argue that we need to pay attention to both the physical and social environment in contributing to preponderance of cycling in Amsterdam. Following this perspective, my thesis largely focuses on exploring the interrelation between the physical and social characteristics of urban cycling environments.