Bike mobilities, democratic revival and the local fix

This article explores the local political strategies associated with the implementation of sustainable bike policies in southern European cities. It combines geographical concepts and methods , on the one hand, and sustainable policy studies on the other hand, with the aim of highlighting the specif...

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Main Author: Nacima Baron
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Société Royale Belge de Géographie and the Belgian National Committee of Geography 2020-02-01
Series:Belgeo
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/belgeo/36436
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author Nacima Baron
author_facet Nacima Baron
author_sort Nacima Baron
collection DOAJ
description This article explores the local political strategies associated with the implementation of sustainable bike policies in southern European cities. It combines geographical concepts and methods , on the one hand, and sustainable policy studies on the other hand, with the aim of highlighting the specificities of the Mediterranean political context of mobility transition. Using Valencia as a case study, it shows that tactical urbanism is being used to put sustainable mobilities on the local agenda. This justifies and embodies a change in municipal policy and politics after a decade of crisis. Sustainable mobility projects materialise and spatialise, in various ways, democratic values within public space. The article therefore studies the strategies employed to mark the urban territory with green mobility infrastructures (part 1); it reveals the construction of a discursive space that polarises local debates (part 2); it describes the symbolic reintegration of Valencia into a network of model cities (part 3). Such a strategy does not create an effective Mediterranean model of the cycle-friendly city, because it does not modify the structural organisation of space or the social representations that underpin current mobility practices (part 4).
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publishDate 2020-02-01
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spelling doaj-art-c7baf841796c45d8845cf6b8da39253d2025-08-20T02:27:28ZengSociété Royale Belge de Géographie and the Belgian National Committee of GeographyBelgeo1377-23682294-91352020-02-01410.4000/belgeo.36436Bike mobilities, democratic revival and the local fixNacima BaronThis article explores the local political strategies associated with the implementation of sustainable bike policies in southern European cities. It combines geographical concepts and methods , on the one hand, and sustainable policy studies on the other hand, with the aim of highlighting the specificities of the Mediterranean political context of mobility transition. Using Valencia as a case study, it shows that tactical urbanism is being used to put sustainable mobilities on the local agenda. This justifies and embodies a change in municipal policy and politics after a decade of crisis. Sustainable mobility projects materialise and spatialise, in various ways, democratic values within public space. The article therefore studies the strategies employed to mark the urban territory with green mobility infrastructures (part 1); it reveals the construction of a discursive space that polarises local debates (part 2); it describes the symbolic reintegration of Valencia into a network of model cities (part 3). Such a strategy does not create an effective Mediterranean model of the cycle-friendly city, because it does not modify the structural organisation of space or the social representations that underpin current mobility practices (part 4).https://journals.openedition.org/belgeo/36436sustainable mobilitieslocal policytactical urbanismpolitical communicationValencia
spellingShingle Nacima Baron
Bike mobilities, democratic revival and the local fix
Belgeo
sustainable mobilities
local policy
tactical urbanism
political communication
Valencia
title Bike mobilities, democratic revival and the local fix
title_full Bike mobilities, democratic revival and the local fix
title_fullStr Bike mobilities, democratic revival and the local fix
title_full_unstemmed Bike mobilities, democratic revival and the local fix
title_short Bike mobilities, democratic revival and the local fix
title_sort bike mobilities democratic revival and the local fix
topic sustainable mobilities
local policy
tactical urbanism
political communication
Valencia
url https://journals.openedition.org/belgeo/36436
work_keys_str_mv AT nacimabaron bikemobilitiesdemocraticrevivalandthelocalfix