IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/trapol/v159y2024icp95-107.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Investigating contestation around neighbourhood scale active travel infrastructure policy

Author

Listed:
  • Caris, Ethan
  • Cao, Mengqiu

Abstract

Active travel infrastructure policy implemented at a neighbourhood scale has generated unexpected levels of socio-political contestation, leading to the removal of some schemes and widespread debates regarding equity and justice. Frequently, such contestation is framed as a discrete transport-centric phenomenon, engendering binary and objective pro-vs. anti-active travel infrastructure narratives, which obfuscate the intersection of policy with wider urban socio-spatial development dynamics. In response, this study adopts a critical urban approach to undertake a detailed investigation of contestation, through analysis of the subjective perspectives shaping contested discourses around neighbourhood scale active travel infrastructure. To achieve this, in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with stakeholders, using London as a case study. Our results show that divergent conceptualisations of sustainability, disparate experiences of decision-making processes, and heterogeneous socio-spatial contexts, all play a role in shaping and mediating contestation. Analysis of these themes highlights how processes of contestation are contingent upon the deployment of top-down technocratic policy. These findings reveal how current active travel infrastructure policy can further entrench, and give rise to, novel, uneven development processes. Thus, this study demonstrates the need for more transformative and strategic policy approaches, which offer truly participatory opportunities and consider active travel infrastructure within wider socio-spatial contexts.

Suggested Citation

  • Caris, Ethan & Cao, Mengqiu, 2024. "Investigating contestation around neighbourhood scale active travel infrastructure policy," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 95-107.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:trapol:v:159:y:2024:i:c:p:95-107
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tranpol.2024.10.007
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967070X24002816
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.tranpol.2024.10.007?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Giles Thomson & Peter Newman, 2020. "Cities and the Anthropocene: Urban governance for the new era of regenerative cities," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(7), pages 1502-1519, May.
    2. Neil Brenner, 2009. "What is critical urban theory?," City, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(2-3), pages 198-207, June.
    3. Goodman, Anna & Aldred, Rachel, 2021. "The Impact of Introducing a Low Traffic Neighbourhood on Street Crime, in Waltham Forest, London," SocArXiv ftm8d, Center for Open Science.
    4. Theresa Enright, 2019. "Transit justice as spatial justice: learning from activists," Mobilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(5), pages 665-680, September.
    5. Aldred, Rachel & Croft, Joseph & Goodman, Anna, 2019. "Impacts of an active travel intervention with a cycling focus in a suburban context: One-year findings from an evaluation of London’s in-progress mini-Hollands programme," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 147-169.
    6. Gössling, Stefan & Cohen, Scott, 2014. "Why sustainable transport policies will fail: EU climate policy in the light of transport taboos," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 197-207.
    7. Nello-Deakin, Samuel, 2020. "Environmental determinants of cycling: Not seeing the forest for the trees?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    8. 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.
    9. Verlinghieri, Ersilia & Venturini, Federico, 2018. "Exploring the right to mobility through the 2013 mobilizations in Rio de Janeiro," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 126-136.
    10. David Wachsmuth & Hillary Angelo, 2018. "Green and Gray: New Ideologies of Nature in Urban Sustainability Policy," Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 108(4), pages 1038-1056, July.
    11. Cook, Simon & Stevenson, Lorna & Aldred, Rachel & Kendall, Matt & Cohen, Tom, 2022. "More than walking and cycling: What is ‘active travel’?," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 151-161.
    12. Susan Moore, 2015. "Researching Local Development Cultures: Using the Qualitative Interview as an Interpretive Lens," International Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(4), pages 390-406, November.
    13. Aldred, Rachel & Verlinghieri, Ersilia & Sharkey, Megan & Itova, Irena & Goodman, Anna, 2021. "Equity in new active travel infrastructure: A spatial analysis of London's new Low Traffic Neighbourhoods," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    14. Bai, Yihang & Cao, Mengqiu & Wang, Ruoyu & Liu, Yuqi & Wang, Seunghyeon, 2022. "How street greenery facilitates active travel for university students," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 115239, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    15. repec:osf:socarx:ftm8d_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Robin Hickman & Katy Huaylla Sallo, 2022. "The political economy of streetspace reallocation projects: Aldgate Square and Bank Junction, London," Journal of Urban Design, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(4), pages 397-420, July.
    17. Cunha, Isabel & Silva, Cecília, 2023. "Assessing the equity impact of cycling infrastructure allocation: Implications for planning practice," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 15-26.
    18. Kębłowski, Wojciech & Van Criekingen, Mathieu & Bassens, David, 2019. "Moving past the sustainable perspectives on transport: An attempt to mobilise critical urban transport studies with the right to the city," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 24-34.
    19. repec:osf:socarx:ebj89_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. repec:osf:socarx:q87fu_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Aldred, Rachel & Verlinghieri, Ersilia & Sharkey, Megan & Itova, Irena & Goodman, Anna, 2021. "Equity in new active travel infrastructure: a spatial analysis of London’s new Low Traffic Neighbourhoods," SocArXiv q87fu, Center for Open Science.
    22. Richard Cowell, 2013. "The Greenest Government Ever? Planning and Sustainability in England after the May 2010 Elections," Planning Practice & Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(1), pages 27-44, February.
    23. Aldred, Rachel & Goodman, Anna, 2020. "Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, Car Use, and Active Travel: evidence from the People and Places survey of Outer London active travel interventions," SocArXiv ebj89, Center for Open Science.
    24. Emma R. Lawlor & Kate Ellis & Jean Adams & Russell Jago & Louise Foley & Stephanie Morris & Tessa Pollard & Carolyn Summerbell & Steven Cummins & Hannah Forde & Campbell Foubister & Christina Xiao & J, 2023. "Stakeholders’ experiences of what works in planning and implementing environmental interventions to promote active travel: a systematic review and qualitative synthesis," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(3), pages 478-501, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Aryana Soliz, 2021. "Creating Sustainable Cities through Cycling Infrastructure? Learning from Insurgent Mobilities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-21, August.
    2. Yang, Xiuleng & McCoy, Emma & Hough, Katherine & de Nazelle, Audrey, 2022. "Evaluation of low traffic neighbourhood (LTN) impacts on NO2 and traffic," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 117441, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Budnitz, Hannah & Jaskólski, Marek & Knapskog, Marianne & Lis-Plesińska, Aleksandra & Schmidt, Filip & Szymanowski, Rafał & der Craats, Jasmijn van & Schwanen, Tim, 2025. "Multi-level governance and modal thinking: Tensions in electric mobility transitions in European cities," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 63-72.
    4. Isabelle Whelan & Carlo Luiu & Francis D. Pope, 2024. "Assessing the Polarising Impacts of Low-Traffic Neighbourhoods: A Community Perspective from Birmingham, UK," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(12), pages 1-22, December.
    5. Kębłowski, Wojciech & Dobruszkes, Frédéric & Boussauw, Kobe, 2022. "Moving past sustainable transport studies: Towards a critical perspective on urban transport," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 74-83.
    6. Verlinghieri, Ersilia, 2020. "Learning from the grassroots: A resourcefulness-based worldview for transport planning," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 364-377.
    7. Barber, Lachlan B., 2020. "Governing uneven mobilities: Walking and hierarchized circulation in Hong Kong," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    8. Mahfouz, Hussein & Lovelace, Robin & Arcaute, Elsa, 2023. "A road segment prioritization approach for cycling infrastructure," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    9. Canzler, Weert, 2024. "Mobilitätswende - Stand und weitere Herausforderungen," EconStor Open Access Book Chapters, in: Die Energiewende 2.0: Review zum Transformationsprozess des Energiesystems in Deutschland: Kolloquium der Leibniz-Sozietät der Wissenschaften am 21. J, pages 179-199, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    10. Wang, Siqiang & Yung, Esther, Hiu Kwan & Yu, Yifan & Tsou, Jin Yeu, 2022. "Right to the city and community facility planning for elderly: The case of urban renewal district in Hong Kong," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    11. Wojciech Keblowski & Frédéric Dobruszkes & Kobe Boussauw, 2022. "Moving past sustainable transport studies: Towards a critical perspective on urban transport," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/341191, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    12. Kębłowski, Wojciech & Van Criekingen, Mathieu & Bassens, David, 2019. "Moving past the sustainable perspectives on transport: An attempt to mobilise critical urban transport studies with the right to the city," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 24-34.
    13. Soliz, Aryana & Carvalho, Thiago & Sarmiento-Casas, Claudio & Sánchez-Rodríguez, Jorge & El-Geneidy, Ahmed, 2023. "Scaling up active transportation across North America: A comparative content analysis of policies through a social equity framework," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    14. Christian Werner & Elisabeth Füssl & Jannik Rieß & Bernd Resch & Florian Kratochwil & Martin Loidl, 2022. "A Framework to Facilitate Advanced Mixed Methods Studies for Investigating Interventions in Road Space for Cycling," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-22, December.
    15. Castañeda, Paola, 2021. "Cycling case closed? A situated response to Samuel Nello-Deakin's “Environmental determinants of cycling: Not seeing the forest for the trees?”," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    16. Dian Nostikasari & Nicole Foster & Lauren Krake, 2024. "Inhabiting digital spaces: An informational right to the city for mobility justice," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 61(13), pages 2585-2602, October.
    17. Martin Lanzendorf & Annabell Baumgartner & Nora Klinner, 2024. "Do citizens support the transformation of urban transport? Evidence for the acceptability of parking management, car lane conversion and road closures from a German case study," Transportation, Springer, vol. 51(6), pages 2073-2101, December.
    18. Peter Marcuse, 2010. "In defense of theory in practice," City, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(1-2), pages 4-12, February.
    19. Euchi, Jalel & Kallel, Ahmed, 2021. "Internalization of external congestion and CO2emissions costs related to road transport: The case of Tunisia," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    20. Ersilia Verlinghieri & Elisabetta Vitale Brovarone & Luca Staricco, 2024. "The conflictual governance of street experiments, between austerity and post-politics," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 61(5), pages 878-899, April.

    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:eee:trapol:v:159:y:2024:i:c:p:95-107. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/30473/description#description .

    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.