Difusion of cycling policy in the city of São Paulo: resistance, support and the role of the media

Abstract São Paulo is a megalopolis with a pattern of occupation marked by the prominence of the automobile. However, recently, the urban mobility agenda gained new meaning and new actors were mobilized. From the post-positivist and diffusion theoretical perspectives of public policies, the present work discusses how the idea of the cycling policy arose, adapted and faced resistance in the political and social context of the municipality of São Paulo under Fernando Haddad’s government (Workers’ Party). As a result of the research, on one hand, the role of the political and epistemic community of the cycling-activists and the entrepreneurial role of Mayor Haddad as elements of political support stand out. On the other hand, the São Paulo press played an oppositional role in the implementation of the policy, acting as a political actor in the subsystem of the cycling policy, by systematically attacking the image of the infrastructures implemented for the bicycles.摘要 圣保罗作为特大城市，其城市空间布局以汽车交通占据主导地位为鲜明特征。然而近年来，城市交通出行议题被赋予了全新内涵，同时动员起了一批新的参与主体。本研究基于公共政策领域的后实证主义（post-positivism）与政策扩散理论（public policy diffusion theory）视角，探讨在费尔南多·哈达德（Fernando Haddad）领导的劳工党（Workers’ Party）政府时期，圣保罗市自行车交通政策的理念是如何产生、调整，并在当地政治与社会语境中遭遇抵抗的。研究结果显示，一方面，自行车行动主义者所构成的政治与认知共同体（epistemic community）的作用，以及哈达德市长的企业家式施政风格，作为该政策的核心政治支撑要素尤为突出；另一方面，圣保罗当地媒体在政策推行过程中扮演了反对角色，作为自行车交通政策子系统（policy subsystem）中的政治行为体，系统性地诋毁为自行车出行所建设的基础设施形象。