Biking in the Land of the Car

This paper is theoretical in its attempt to articulate and theorize the notion of ‘mobility culture’. It is empirical in its choice of cases illustrating the notion of mobility culture. The paper explores three cases in the USA; The East Coast Greenway bicycle corridor and the contemporary tensions and conflicts over bikes on Manhattan, NYC. The latter case is particularly scoped in relation to the ‘critical mass’ event and the NGO ‘Transportation Alternatives’. Based upon the theoretical framing and empirical field studies conducted in the US the paper put forwards an illustration of how to comprehend urban mobility cultures and the power-ridden conflicts that arises when these clash. By looking into North American cases the paper brings a comparative dimension to the European taken- for-granted status of urban cyclists. Furthermore, the paper aims to show that there is more than urban logistics of transportation flows at stake when mobility cultures clashes. The clashes of urban mobility cultures make us see that infrastructures and urban transportation is about more that instrumental movement of people from point A to point B. What are at stake are also notions of community, social identities and culture.

本文在理论层面尝试阐述并构建“流动性文化（mobility culture）”的概念体系；在实证层面则选取案例对该概念进行阐释。论文探讨了美国的三个案例：东海岸绿道自行车走廊，以及纽约曼哈顿当前围绕自行车引发的紧张关系与冲突。后者特别聚焦于“关键群体（critical mass）”活动及非政府组织“交通替代方案（Transportation Alternatives）”。基于理论框架与在美国开展的实证田野研究，本文提出了理解城市流动性文化及此类文化冲突中权力博弈的阐释路径。通过分析北美案例，本文为欧洲城市骑行者被视为理所当然的地位提供了比较研究视角。此外，本文旨在说明，当流动性文化发生冲突时，其涉及的不仅是交通流的城市物流问题。城市流动性文化的冲突让我们意识到，基础设施与城市交通的意义远超人们从A点到B点的工具性移动——其中还包含社区、社会身份与文化等深层概念。