Dear CYCLING-AND-SOCIETY Subscribers,
We would like to announce a new publication from the University of Minnesota Press, which we hope will be of interest.
Cyclescapes of the Unequal City
Bicycle Infrastructure and Uneven Development
John G. Stehlin
https://www.combinedacademic.co.uk/cyclescapes-of-the-unequal-city
Not long ago, bicycling in the city was considered a radical statement or a last resort, and few cyclists braved the inhospitable streets of most American cities. Today, however,
the urban cyclist represents progress and the urban "renaissance." City leaders now undertake ambitious new bicycle infrastructure plans and bike share schemes to promote the environmental, social, and economic health of the city and its residents. Cyclescapes
of the Unequal City contextualizes and critically examines this new wave of bicycling in American cities, exploring how bicycle infrastructure planning has become a key symbol of—and site of conflict over—uneven
urban development. John G. Stehlin traces bicycling's rise in popularity as a key policy solution for American cities facing the environmental, economic, and social contradictions of the previous century of sprawl. Using in-depth case studies from San Francisco,
Philadelphia, and Detroit, he argues that the mission of bicycle advocacy has converged with, and reshaped, the urban growth machine around a model of livable, environmentally friendly, and innovation-based urban capitalism. While advocates envision a more
sustainable city for all, the deployment of bicycle infrastructure within the framework of the neoliberal city in many ways intensifies divisions along lines of race, class, and space. Cyclescapes of the Unequal
City speaks to a growing interest in bicycling as an urban economic and environmental strategy, its role in the politics of gentrification, and efforts to build more diverse coalitions of bicycle advocates. Grounding
its analysis in both regional political economy and neighborhood-based ethnography, this book ultimately uses the bicycle as a lens to view major shifts in today's American city.
John G. Stehlin is
research associate in the Sustainable Consumption Institute at the University of Manchester.
With all best wishes,
Combined Academic Publishers
University of Minnesota Press | April 2019 | 328pp | 9781517903817 | PB | £22.99*
*Price subject to change.