The modern city’s goal is to become bike-friendly as cycling as a mode of transport is advocated to reduce problems like air pollution and traffic congestion. However, a researcher found that the investments in bike-friendly infrastructure tend to favour the needs of the wealthy and neglect the majority of American riders who are lower-income and people of colour.
Cycling is a popular tool to improve access to transport and reduce inequalities in the cities. Although cycling is more prevalent in minority neighbourhoods, they do not receive as much funding to improve safety of cyclists. Consequently, the easiest and least safe elements are added to the roads for cyclists and the risks of accidents and crashes are consequently higher. The researchers also found that the needs and concerns of the lower-income are different from those from wealthier neighbourhoods, including concerns about losing their bikes and road conditions.
Read the full article on Channel NewsAsia: You Can’t Design Bike-Friendly Cities Without Considering Race and Class
Analysis:
Policymakers may not be fully aware of the biases that they have while creating policies. They may also make wrong assumptions about the local needs. Without participatory decision-making, it is difficult to know the real needs on the ground. Therefore, representation from different groups is important in focus group discussions. It provides decision-makers with the information from the direct beneficiaries of their policies
The design of focus group discussions has to be deliberately implemented, and it should not only consider those with the loudest voice. For example, car owners are usually more vocal in voicing out their needs because they tend to be more educated about their rights and would demand for infrastructures that benefit them. On the other hand, cyclists in minority groups and lower income brackets may not be able to ask for facilities that they never had.
Questions for further personal evaluation:
- Why do you think people of different class have differing needs?
- To what extent is Singapore a bike-friendly city?
Useful vocabulary:
- ‘hallmark’: a typical characteristic
Picture credits:https://pixabay.com/photos/bike-blur-cars-city-cyclist-road-1836934/