IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/urbstu/v58y2021i10p2095-2116.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Mobilising the dispositive: Exploring the role of dockless public bike sharing in transforming urban governance in Shanghai

Author

Listed:
  • Wen-I Lin

    (National Taipei University, Taiwan)

  • Justin Spinney

    (Cardiff University, UK)

Abstract

This paper contributes to debates on urban governance and mobility through a case study of the transformation of public bike sharing schemes in Shanghai (China) from fixed/docked (PBSS 1.0) to flexible/dockless (PBSS 2.0). Based upon stakeholder interviews and observations between 2015 and 2017, we use the concept of a dispositive to foreground two related processes. The first is the reformulation of the governmental dispositive that coalesces around PBSS in Shanghai. We show how the relations within the dispositive shift from more hierarchical, bounded, regulated and state-led to those characterised by a more dispersed, disconnected, horizontal and distant set of social relations. Second, we show how this dispositive both produces and is produced by an emergent environmentality that manifests in a fixed territoriality in PBSS 1.0 and a more fluid and deterritorialised digital environmentality in PBSS 2.0. In framing this shift, we demonstrate how PBSS 2.0 produces a new dispositive of urban governmentality where the conduct of users is dispersed through a much less co-ordinated network of actors and technologies. Ultimately we argue that it is no longer possible to separate physical and virtual mobility when trying to understand the internal dynamics and external manifestations of mobility governance, which in our example are characterised by less localised and less hierarchical relationships that are more fluid, voluntary and physically distant.

Suggested Citation

  • Wen-I Lin & Justin Spinney, 2021. "Mobilising the dispositive: Exploring the role of dockless public bike sharing in transforming urban governance in Shanghai," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(10), pages 2095-2116, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:58:y:2021:i:10:p:2095-2116
    DOI: 10.1177/0042098020937945
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0042098020937945
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0042098020937945?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lin, Jenn-Rong & Yang, Ta-Hui, 2011. "Strategic design of public bicycle sharing systems with service level constraints," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 284-294, March.
    2. Shaheen, Susan & Guzman, Stacey & Zhang, Hua, 2010. "Bikesharing in Europe, the Americas, and Asia: Past, Present, and Future," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt79v822k5, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    3. Martin R Schneider & Conrad Schulze-Bentrop & Mihai Paunescu, 2010. "Mapping the institutional capital of high-tech firms: A fuzzy-set analysis of capitalist variety and export performance," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 41(2), pages 246-266, February.
    4. Katharina Manderscheid, 2014. "The Movement Problem, the Car and Future Mobility Regimes: Automobility as Dispositif and Mode of Regulation," Mobilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(4), pages 604-626, September.
    5. Justin Spinney & Wen-I Lin, 2019. "(Mobility) Fixing the Taiwanese bicycle industry: the production and economisation of cycling culture in pursuit of accumulation," Mobilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(4), pages 524-544, July.
    6. Caulfield, Brian & O'Mahony, Margaret & Brazil, William & Weldon, Peter, 2017. "Examining usage patterns of a bike-sharing scheme in a medium sized city," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 152-161.
    7. Justin Spinney, 2016. "Fixing Mobility in the Neoliberal City: Cycling Policy and Practice in London as a Mode of Political–Economic and Biopolitical Governance," Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 106(2), pages 450-458, March.
    8. Shaheen, Susan A & Guzman, Stacey & Zhang, Hua, 2010. "Bikesharing in Europe, the Americas, and Asia: Past, Present and Future," Institute of Transportation Studies, Research Reports, Working Papers, Proceedings qt6qg8q6ft, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Berkeley.
    9. Schuijbroek, J. & Hampshire, R.C. & van Hoeve, W.-J., 2017. "Inventory rebalancing and vehicle routing in bike sharing systems," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 257(3), pages 992-1004.
    10. Zhang, Yongping & Mi, Zhifu, 2018. "Environmental benefits of bike sharing: A big data-based analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 296-301.
    11. David Tyfield, 2014. "Putting the Power in 'Socio-Technical Regimes' - E-Mobility Transition in China as Political Process," Mobilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(4), pages 585-603, September.
    12. Jian-gang Shi & Hongyun Si & Guangdong Wu & Yangyue Su & Jing Lan, 2018. "Critical Factors to Achieve Dockless Bike-Sharing Sustainability in China: A Stakeholder-Oriented Network Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-16, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hongze Tan & Shengchen Du, 2021. "The Governance Challenge within Socio-Technical Transition Processes: Public Bicycles and Smartphone-Based Bicycles in Guangzhou, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-20, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Spinney, Justin & Lin, Wen-I, 2021. "A vehicle for valorising the labour power of commuting: The politics of mobility fixing in Shanghai's Dockless Public Bike Sharing Sector," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    2. Hongze Tan & Shengchen Du, 2021. "The Governance Challenge within Socio-Technical Transition Processes: Public Bicycles and Smartphone-Based Bicycles in Guangzhou, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-20, August.
    3. Alexandros Nikitas, 2019. "How to Save Bike-Sharing: An Evidence-Based Survival Toolkit for Policy-Makers and Mobility Providers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-17, June.
    4. Elżbieta Macioszek & Paulina Świerk & Agata Kurek, 2020. "The Bike-Sharing System as an Element of Enhancing Sustainable Mobility—A Case Study based on a City in Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-29, April.
    5. Xinwei Ma & Ruiming Cao & Jianbiao Wang, 2019. "Effects of Psychological Factors on Modal Shift from Car to Dockless Bike Sharing: A Case Study of Nanjing, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-16, September.
    6. Ma, Xinwei & Zhang, Shuai & Wu, Tao & Yang, Yizhe & Yu, Jiajie, 2023. "Can dockless and docked bike-sharing substitute each other? Evidence from Nanjing, China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    7. Jara-Díaz, Sergio & Latournerie, André & Tirachini, Alejandro & Quitral, Félix, 2022. "Optimal pricing and design of station-based bike-sharing systems: A microeconomic model," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 31(C).
    8. Liu, Yixiao & Tian, Zihao & Pan, Baoran & Zhang, Wenbin & Liu, Yunqi & Tian, Lixin, 2022. "A hybrid big-data-based and tolerance-based method to estimate environmental benefits of electric bike sharing," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 315(C).
    9. Mix, Richard & Hurtubia, Ricardo & Raveau, Sebastián, 2022. "Optimal location of bike-sharing stations: A built environment and accessibility approach," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 126-142.
    10. Carlos M. Vallez & Mario Castro & David Contreras, 2021. "Challenges and Opportunities in Dock-Based Bike-Sharing Rebalancing: A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-26, February.
    11. Çelebi, Dilay & Yörüsün, Aslı & Işık, Hanife, 2018. "Bicycle sharing system design with capacity allocations," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 86-98.
    12. Builes-Jaramillo, Alejandro & Lotero, Laura, 2022. "Spatial-temporal network analysis of the public bicycle sharing system in Medellín, Colombia," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    13. Zhao, De & Ong, Ghim Ping & Wang, Wei & Hu, Xiao Jian, 2019. "Effect of built environment on shared bicycle reallocation: A case study on Nanjing, China," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 73-88.
    14. Yixiao Liu & Wenshan Liu & Rui Zhao & Lixin Tian, 2023. "Can Docked Bike-Sharing Systems Reach Their Dual Sustainability in Terms of Environmental Benefits and Financial Operations? A Comparative Study from Nanjing, 2017 and 2023," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-39, December.
    15. Ruijing Wu & Shaoxuan Liu & Zhenyang Shi, 2019. "Customer Incentive Rebalancing Plan in Free-Float Bike-Sharing System with Limited Information," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-24, May.
    16. Link, Christoph & Strasser, Christoph & Hinterreiter, Michael, 2020. "Free-floating bikesharing in Vienna – A user behaviour analysis," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 168-182.
    17. Fu, Chenyi & Zhu, Ning & Ma, Shoufeng & Liu, Ronghui, 2022. "A two-stage robust approach to integrated station location and rebalancing vehicle service design in bike-sharing systems," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 298(3), pages 915-938.
    18. Hyungkyoo Kim, 2020. "Seasonal Impacts of Particulate Matter Levels on Bike Sharing in Seoul, South Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-17, June.
    19. Zhou, Xiaolu & Wang, Mingshu & Li, Dongying, 2019. "Bike-sharing or taxi? Modeling the choices of travel mode in Chicago using machine learning," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 1-1.
    20. Alain Quilliot & Antoine Sarbinowski & Hélène Toussaint, 2021. "Vehicle driven approaches for non preemptive vehicle relocation with integrated quality criterion in a vehicle sharing system," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 298(1), pages 445-468, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:58:y:2021:i:10:p:2095-2116. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/urbanstudiesjournal .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.