Bicycle and urban design. A lesson from Covid-19

Keywords: Bicycle urbanism, Urban design, COVID-19 and City

Abstract

The central role of the car in city mobility has led to a decreased capacity for people to choose another alternative form of mobility. In recent decades, some cities have set policies where cycling has become increasingly important. Urban mobility policies in response to Covid-19 have reinforced this perspective.  Throughout the analysis of urban bicycle studies, the paper investigates the role of mobility for society and the design of our cities? What the role of sustainable mobility, in particular how the bicycle is addressing the Covid-19 emergency. During and after this emergency, the use of the bicycle addresses urban quality and liveability for spaces. The research studies the urban policies of 5 cities: Barcelona, Bogota, Brussels, Milan and Paris and analyses the measures implemented during the first lock down, since February 2020 to May 2020. In all cities studied, the bicycle modal shares and the bicycle infrastructure has increased. Covid-19 allowed the bicycle to prove it is the safest, most efficient urban mode of transport. The action carried out, in the cities studied, affected not only on the hard aspects reshaping the cities with permanent and temporary solutions but also on soft aspects acting on people's perception and use and choosing how to move. Transport studies and policies involving bicycles are not just ‘about cycling’, but about sustainable, productive, and prosperous cities.

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Author Biography

Nicolò Fenu, Unica Dicaar-Sardarch

Graduate in 2007 in architecture. In 2009, he obtained the Master in Advanced Studies in Urban Design at the ETH Zurich. He is registered at Order of Architects of Cagliari. Since 2017 he has carried out research and didactic assistance at the University of Cagliari on the themes of internal areas and low-density areas. He has gained a decade of experience in the field of participatory urban research and all phases of architectural project management: preliminary, design and construction, in international contexts mainly in Switzerland, Holland and Italy. Co-founder of Sardarch Spin-off, a laboratory specialized in research and urban regeneration, which applies multidisciplinary approaches stimulating the involvement and participation of active citizenship, with which he has published the books "Verso un urbanistica della collaborazione" (2015) and "SPOP – Istantanea dello spopolamento in Sardegna "(2016); Barbagia arcipelago Italia (2019); Covid e aree interne (2020).

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Published
2021-04-30
How to Cite
FenuN. (2021). Bicycle and urban design. A lesson from Covid-19. TeMA - Journal of Land Use, Mobility and Environment, 14(1), 69-92. https://doi.org/10.6092/1970-9870/7716