ABSTRACT
London underwent a ‘cycling revolution’ under former Mayor Boris Johnson, which garnered international attention and increased the political salience of cycling. Johnson’s successor Sadiq Khan pledged to continue that legacy and to make London a ‘byword for cycling’. However, despite London’s increased investment in cycling infrastructure and overall growth in cycling over the past two decades, there remains a gender gap in cycling. Currently, men make 63 per cent of cycle journeys in the city. This begs the questions: For whom was there a cycling revolution? For whom is London a byword for cycling? Will the future for cycling in London be inclusive? This chapter challenges London’s cycling policy and infrastructure practices from an intersectional feminist perspective, which acknowledges that there are multiple kinds of systemic and structural inequalities that interact in complex ways to produce uneven urban cycling experiences. Through a review of the literature on gender and cycling, analysis of London cycling policy documents, ethnography and cycling conferences and advocacy events, and interviews with relevant stakeholders and everyday female cyclists, this chapter argues that London’s cycling paradigm reflects an implicit androcentric bias. Specifically, implicit male bias is present in London’s treatment of cycling infrastructure, representations of cycling and cyclists, and ‘smart’ cycling innovations. Consequently, London’s cycling interventions raise the profile of already visible, privileged cyclists (predominantly white, middle-class, able-bodied men) for whom cycling is a lifestyle choice, while erasing those for whom cycling is an economic or spatial necessity. To truly deliver a ‘cycling revolution’ where London is a ‘byword for cycling’ for all, issues around diversity, inclusion, and social justice must foreground cycling policy and infrastructure in an increasingly diversifying London.
