Youth, Cities and Pedals: The Case for introducing Cycling as an Educational Topic
By Iván Osorio Avila
The earlier a community -and its individuals- learn to do something, the more adept they become at it and the more of a customary activity it will be. A key strategy to support a mid-term future with more active transportation, as with many things in life, is through education. Whether empirical and reactive or structured and proactive, an educational approach towards transportation, specifically active mobility, can change the way the next generation of adults approaches the way they move.
Youth, cities and mobility
People, places, tools. These three elements intersect and interact continuously. Cities and the people in them raise the younger members of our community, teaching them the behaviours, uses, and nuances of the spaces we inhabit. In turn, these younger citizens (understanding ‘citizens’ as accountable inhabitants of a space and community) will then input their own knowledge, work and craft into the places they live and develop in.
Mobility is the needle threading this loop. Physically and geographically moving from the private to the public realm, from one space to the other with different intended uses is an understated and underestimated phenomenon.
We normalize the way in which we move, and grow used to certain routines and lifestyle choices. Therefore, the more choices we have and the more of them we experience earlier on, the more adaptable we are to use different tools, in this case, mobility options. Adaptability creates more resilient and functional communities. If a group of humans is only used to carrying out activities and tasks a specific way, when one of the resources or logistical variables changes, it is more likely that the completion of that task will be hindered.
Applying this analogy to mobility, if a person grows up with only one mode of transport to and from school, to and from extracurricular or leisurely activities, the less resourceful this person will become as they grow up.
Car-centric cities and societies hinder our youth’s ability to be resourceful, independent and think and move critically. By giving them only one main mode of mobility (i.e. the car), we are not only stating “this is the only safe, reliable way for you to move” but we’re also limiting their ability to do so by stating “also, this single mode of mobility is off-limits for the next sixteen years, so you’re effectively dependent on another human for your mobility.” This logic makes youth in car-centric cities see the automobile as a tool for freedom and for mobility. The car becomes an aspirational object deeply connected to the ideals of freedom, individual identity and social status. Learning to operate a vehicle, owning one and maintaining it requires financial wealth and buying power. Mobility becomes a commodity, a product to be paid for, driving the inequality gap even further in our society’s current state of affairs.
There is however, another object for freedom, one much less expensive, much less complex and often overlooked in Anglo-american cities and suburbs as nothing more than a leisurely item or childhood play instrument. The bicycle. It is not an obscure, high-tech or digital product. Bicycles have been around for a long time and most people have seen them or interacted with them and many able-bodied people have at some point operated one.
However, in many car-centric built environments, bicycles have been relegated to either a recreational or leisure instrument, only to be thought of in fond childhood memories, and not as a viable mode of transportation for everyday use.
Even though the past decade has seen a surge in urban cycling culture around the globe, with case studies such as New York , Mexico City, Shanghai, Amsterdam and other large metropolitan areas investing millions in cycling infrastructure, bike sharing programs and other initiatives. These are amazing, impactful case studies, the question remains: How do we replicate this in smaller urban and suburban areas?
There is a limit to how much turn-key policies, programs and models can be copy-pasted from one place to the next. Many smaller, less populated or less dense urban areas cannot sustain pilot programs or cannot justify such large investments in infrastructure, given the lack of existing users for said infrastructure.
Build it and they will come.
What should come first, the offer or the demand? In order to justify a long-term investment in multi-modal, non-car-centric transportation planning, there must be an evident and demonstrable user base. By betting on youth, this critical mass of individuals within the population base can be reached.
The same demographic that was told “You must wait sixteen years until you obtain the freedom to move beyond depending on a vehicle or public transit” has the potential to become the generation that creates a cultural shift that demands cycling infrastructure as a prerequisite in urban planning and design. People-oriented and car-friendly, instead of car-oriented and people-friendly streets.
To achieve this, policy and programming initiatives can be proactive or reactive. Many cases are reactive, such as the Avenida Insurgentes bike lane in Mexico City. A 40+km avenue that only saw permanent bike paths installed until the lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic allowed for such an intervention. Changes such as phasing out privatized public transit and giving way to state-run BRT, and now the permanent bike lane have come with initial resistance, followed by the endurance of a pilot program reaching a critical mass of early-adopter users, and finally receiving an overall approval from the general public.
This prototyping process can then be structured and embedded within other existing institutions, such as education, to become a proactive program, lending itself to a more scalable and replicable initiative. One of these initiatives is Youth En Route (YER), a not-for-profit organization in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Founded by Laura Shutiak, an educator, journalist and cycling advocate, YER has identified an intersection of education, mobility and community in which to operate. By partnering with local schools, YER has offered classes teaching high school students how to ride a bicycle as part of the school’s Physical Education curriculum. Students can also learn about road safety and bike maintenance, which gives them skills and knowledge regarding the actual mechanics of a bicycle, as well as the correct way to operate it. The organization also has Cyclists-in-Residence, avid riders with different backgrounds and life stories that can connect with the students beyond cycling as a physical activity, but rather as a community-building one. The team behind YER is diverse; educators, community builders, designers, planners, engineers, accountants. The message and value that YER aims to provide local students is simple: “Here’s a bike, here’s how you use it. Go, move, get around.”
A simple yet challenging message to deliver. The big difference is that it is aimed at a hyperlocal audience, a few dozen students per school in no more than fifteen schools.
Replicable and scalable, the program will hopefully foster a class of high school seniors that will graduate knowing that a bike can get them the same places than a car will, that will be less car-dependent. A generation that will be more likely to support new planning policies that do not require standard parking minimums for housing and will be less likely to oppose new bike lanes in their community.
About the Author
Born in Mexico and having lived in the USA and Canada, Ivan holds a BA in Industrial Design from Mexico City’s UAM, partial studies in Product and Furniture Design from Centro de Diseño, Cine y Televisión, and a Master’s in Planning from the University of Calgary. He has been involved in social entrepreneurship, social innovation, planning and sustainable tourism projects. He is currently an urban and regional planner at Township Planning + Design and a Member of the Board at Youth En Route in Calgary, Alberta. In addition to practicing urbanism and design, he is usually rock climbing, hiking and biking in Southern Alberta or wherever he can travel to.
Iván Osorio Avila
Member of the Board, Youth En Route
Urban and Regional Planner, Township Planning + Design Inc.
ivan.osorioavila@gmail.com
