Cycling the City: Movement, Meaning and Method

Abstract

Conceptualisations of movement and mobility within geography are increasingly complicating reductive and sedentarist understandings that have tended to theorise mobility either as meaningless, or as the practical outcome of ‘rational’ decision makers. Until quite recently there has been a sedentarist bias in cultural geographic enquiry that has resulted in negative readings of mobility as insensate, polluting and harmful. Conversely, while transport geography has long explored people's daily mobility, it has used a primarily quantitative toolkit to explore the ‘rational’ reasons why movement occurs. The corollary of this has been an assumption that meaning is derived from points A and B, and an emphasis on explaining travel choice by eliciting linguistic accounts of movement. More recent research has begun to problematise such understandings and in doing so illuminate potential avenues of enquiry. Consequently, this review makes an argument for research into cycling to explore the content of the line between A and B in order to highlight the often fleeting and ephemeral meanings that can contribute significantly to what movement means. An essential part of this project is for research to focus on the ‘immaterial’ embodied and sensory aspects of mobility that have previously been neglected or marginalised. In order to realise these goals, this article also makes a case for broadening out the palette of methods used to study mobility and discusses the use of video as one possible way to provide more nuanced accounts of people's journeys.

Exploring changes to cycle infrastructure to improve the experience of cycling for families

“…Therefore there is a need not to disturb or displace this fundamental 'delight' of being in the saddle. Traditionally, the more intangible, experiential elements of cycling have been ignored in research in favour of instrumental analyses of how and why people travel on bikes (Spinney, 2009). However, more recently there have been efforts to explore the kinaesthetic and sensory experience of cycling from a range of perspectives (see : Spinney, 2006: Spinney, , 2009Aldred;2010;Taylor, 2003;Horton, Rosen, and Cox, 2007).…”

Why cycling matters for electric mobility: towards diverse, active and sustainable e-mobilities

“…Furness 2010Furness , 2007Goodwin 2013;McIlvenny 2013a, 5). Velomobilities research has considered identity (Aldred 2012;Fincham 2007;Skinner and Rosen 2007;Steinbach et al 2011), touring (Pesses 2010), the arrangements of bodies and bicycles in group rides (McIlvenny 2013a(McIlvenny , 2013b, gender (Clarsen 2014;Mackintosh and Norcliffe 2007) as well as embodied and multi-sensory aspects (Jensen, Sheller, and Wind 2014;Jungnickel and Aldred 2014;Jones 2005;Lugo 2013;Spinney 2007Spinney , 2009, amongst many others. Velomobility can be part of 'utopian urbanism' as discussed by Furness -one of the first to use the term -in his analysis of Critical Mass (Furness 2007, 299).…”

Celtic pilgrimage, past and present: from historical geography to contemporary embodied practices

“…In both case studies, fieldwork consisted of 2-3 field visits, including participating in the pilgrimage, interviewing pilgrims, clergy and other leaders. This active participation in the pilgrimage allowed the researchers to share in the embodied and kinaesthetic experiences of the practices (Spinney, 2009), while also facilitating interactions with pilgrims, enabling conversation which developed and enriched understanding through common experience (see Lorimer & Lund, 2003). The interviews have been analysed using a thematic coding framework and, unless otherwise stated, names used are the first names of the participants.…”