Mumbai is not commonly seen as a bike-friendly city because of its dense traffic and the absence of bicycle lanes. Yet the city supports rapidly expanding and eclectic bicycle communities. Exploring how people bike and what biking means in the city, Jonathan Shapiro Anjaria in this presentation, drawing on his forthcoming book ‘Mumbai on two wheels’, challenges assumptions that underlie sustainable transportation planning. Arguing that planning professionals and advocates need to pay closer attention to ordinary people who cycle for transportation or for work, or who choose to cycle for recreation, Anjaria offers an alternative to the thinking that dominates mainstream sustainable transportation discussions. Insights come from bicycle activists, commuters, food delivery workers, event organizers, planners, technicians, shop owners, and architects. Through ethnographic vignettes and descriptions of diverse biking experiences, Anjaria shows how pedaling through the city produces a way of seeing and understanding infrastructure. He presents new perspectives on what makes a city bicycle friendly and an awareness that lessons for a more equitable and sustainable urban future can be found in surprising places.
Alan Latham and Mirza Saaib Bég will offer some responses.
The event is run as part of UCL Geography's ‘Global Urbanisms’ research cluster: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/geography/research/global-urbanisms