Cycling in the post-socialist city: On travelling by bicycle in Sofia, Bulgaria

Barnfield, Andrew; Plyushteva, Anna

doi:10.1177/0042098015586536

Cited by 27 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Similarly, in Sofia, Bulgaria, and in Prague, the Czech Republic, the share of cycling was ca. 1% of all trips ( Barnfield and Plyushteva, 2016 , Vojtěch and Susilo, 2016 ). Nevertheless, there are few studies investigating cycling in Eastern Europe, so data on cycling rates are rarely available.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Lack of proper infrastructure for cyclists in Warsaw resembles other large cities of CEE: in Budapest, Hungary, and in Sofia, Bulgaria, cyclists underlined the need for improvements in the cycling infrastructure as a factor potentially encouraging more cycling within the city ( Puhe and Schippl, 2014 , Barnfield and Plyushteva, 2016 ). Similarly, infrastructure was one of the most important issues highlighted in the study of cycling in another large Polish city, Cracow, where most people who cycle do it for utilitarian reasons ( Małochleb et al, 2013 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cycling in Warsaw, Poland – Perceived enablers and barriers according to cyclists and non-cyclists

Iwińska

Blicharska

Pierotti

et al. 2018

Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cycling in Warsaw, Poland – Perceived enablers and barriers according to cyclists and non-cyclists

Iwińska

Blicharska

Pierotti

et al. 2018

Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice

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“…The study aimed to explore how citizens engage in and establish physical exercise practices. (For a study of cycling in Sofia, see Barnfield and Plyushteva, ).…”

Section: Sofia Study Methods: Running Clubs and Runners In Sofiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Grasping physical exercise through recreational running and non‐representational theory: a case study from Sofia, Bulgaria

Barnfield

2016

Sociology Health & Illness

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To become and maintain being physically active encompasses more than purely mindful and rational decision-making. Physical activity requires theoretical-methodological approaches that provide more subtle understandings of the variety of contextual factors. Nettleton and Green have recently argued persuasively for the need for the sociology of public health to embrace social practices. It is also necessary to think about the spaces, affects and technologies of engagement in physical exercise. This article examines the practices of recreational runners in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. The article has three aims; (i) to draw attention to the promise of non-representational theory as an additive for health research and the contextual factors of health practices, (ii) to examine recreational runner's practices and techniques of engagement in light of non-representational theory, and (iii) to highlight how interventions in Sofia and beyond can incorporate elements of non-representational theory into their strategies for improved public health. In drawing attention to the promise of non-representational theory and social practices this article concludes by emphasising their importance for public health interventions in physical activity strategies.

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“…Secondly, they diminish the connection between private and public to a simplistic quantitative measure. Thirdly, it is highly problematic when confronted with the emergent narratives of civic practices, such as guerrilla gardening, political protests and the developing urban cycling scene (Barnfield and Plyushteva, 2015). Fourthly, expressions of public life are restricted to housing and, in the case of Sofia, housing in a certain area.…”

Section: Recreational Running In Sofia and Privatismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experiencing post-socialism: Running and urban space in Sofia, Bulgaria

Barnfield

2016

European Urban and Regional Studies

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This article suggests that cities in Central and Eastern Europe should be understood as developing and interacting with their own unique character and challenges in their own terms. In providing an account of embodied and everyday activities, this paper challenges the conception of a decline in public-oriented acts and affordances understood via the notion of post-socialist privatism. In doing so this paper draws on ethnographic fieldwork of recreational running, an underutilised tool for urban analysis. Despite the growing interest in recreational running amongst urban scholars, engaging with the practice has remained largely neglected within research on the post-socialist cities of Central and Eastern Europe. This paper uses a case study of two recreational running clubs from Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, offering a discussion of everyday experience, public life and urban space. This case study combines participant observation and in-depth qualitative interviews with runners and club organisers to complicate the idea of post-socialist cities as places defined by the decline of public sensibilities and a single conception of the post-socialist condition.

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Cycling in the post-socialist city: On travelling by bicycle in Sofia, Bulgaria

Cited by 27 publications

References 38 publications

Cycling in Warsaw, Poland – Perceived enablers and barriers according to cyclists and non-cyclists

Cycling in Warsaw, Poland – Perceived enablers and barriers according to cyclists and non-cyclists

Grasping physical exercise through recreational running and non‐representational theory: a case study from Sofia, Bulgaria

Experiencing post-socialism: Running and urban space in Sofia, Bulgaria

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