Planning for cycling in a growing megacity: Exploring planners' perceptions and shared values

Abstract

Cycling has long been marginalized in Chinese modern transport planning. With increasing attention being paid to cycling in recent years, it is important to have a better understanding of how local planners make practical judgments for cycling and the underlying considerations. This study examines practicing planners' perceptions and shared values of bicycle planning in Wuhan, a growing Chinese city. An exploratory sequential study design was employed by combining in-depth interviews and a questionnaire survey. A theoretical framework, the culturized planning model, was applied to guide the exploration of the planners' perceptions and shared values. The results indicate that planners generally have a positive attitude towards cycling, particularly regarding environmental and health benefits. They think a suitable role of cycling in commuting is to solve the first and last mile problem by complementing public transport, rather than cycling alone. Most planners are not satisfied with existing cycling conditions; however, they can only improve the cycling infrastructure selectively in a project-oriented way. A variety of challenges of improving the cycling condition are identified. In the changing and growing context, informal rules often play a role in planners' judgment-making.