Cycling Pathways: The Politics and Governance of Dutch Cycling Infrastructure, 1920-2020 by Henk-Jan Dekker (review).

Abstract

Reviewed by: Cycling Pathways: The Politics and Governance of Dutch Cycling Infrastructure, 1920–2020 by Henk-Jan Dekker Evan Friss (bio) Cycling Pathways: The Politics and Governance of Dutch Cycling Infrastructure, 1920–2020 By Henk-Jan Dekker.* Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2021. Pp. 404. "How do the Dutch do it?" many an American cycling advocate has wondered with envy. "Is it flatter over there? Is it the weather? Is it because their cities are older?" It's actually none of these things. So what is the real reason? That's the question Henk-Jan Dekker answers in his well-timed, wellresearched, and well-argued book, Cycling Pathways. Dekker begins in the late nineteenth century, when bicycles flecked country roads and two critical developments emerged. The first was the rise of the ultimately (and unusually) successful campaign to define cycling "as an all-Dutch activity" (p. 47). The second was the ultimately (and unusually) successful campaign to separate bicycle traffic from other traffic. Investment in bicycle-only infrastructure started with recreational paths out in the country and persisted well into the automobile era, even if the impetus was to keep pesky bicycles out of the way. Like the best historians, Dekker shows that the bicycle's special status was "never a foregone conclusion," but rather the result of advocates, lobbyists, politicians (at both the national and local level), and the unique Dutch system of government, all of which he deftly describes, tracking political evolutions alongside social and cultural ones (p. 22). The shadows of the present loom large in this book, offering contemporary cyclists, advocates, planners, and politicians much to consider. For example, when discussing the rise of mopeds in the 1950s—which threatened longstanding norms regarding traffic separation but ended up with even more paths that in the long run benefited their nonmotorized cousins—readers are encouraged to reconsider the current debates about where e-bikes and escooters belong and don't belong. Throughout, Dekker draws on an impressive array of archival collections and has clearly mastered the fast-growing historiography related to European cycling. He's also well versed in American cycling history and regularly draws useful comparisons. Since part of his argument is about Dutch exceptionalism, glimpses into Danish, American, and other countries' cycling history offers broader context and highlights key distinctions. As is the case in nearly all cycling histories of Europe and the United States, there is one glaring omission—the most populous continent on Earth and the one with the most bicycles: Asia. The real problem with Cycling Pathways is construction. And it's a problem that will unfortunately turn off the many nonscholars who would genuinely benefit from reading this book. In essence, the book isn't really a book. Yes, there is a narrative arc, and there is framing and context, some [End Page 880] telling anecdotes, and a few interesting and idiosyncratic characters. But there's also a forty-page introduction that's followed by an introduction to Part 1 that's followed by an introduction to Chapter 1. The book as a whole, each of its parts, each of its chapters, and many of its subsections all have their own introductions. And then the book, each of the parts, each of the chapters, and many of the subsections have their own conclusions, which mostly mirror the introductions. If you read the whole book word for word, you end up reading the same thing over and over and over and over again. Cycling Pathways reads like a dissertation that hasn't yet turned into a book. A good editor could have easily fixed the problem. And that's a shame, because all the pieces of a great book are here. Henk-Jan Dekker can write clearly, he's conducted an impressive amount of research, and he has marshaled his evidence in service of thought-provoking conclusions. Indeed, Cycling Pathways tells an important and persuasive story about how bicycles first earned respect in the Netherlands; how, even when cars arrived (admittedly later and with less potency than in some other countries), bicycles maintained a place on the road; how cycling advocates continued to exert influence from one generation to the next; how social...