Cycling Motilities: Conditions, Weights and Reliefs for Cycling in Disadvantaged Neighbourhoods in Sweden

In current Swedish planning and policy discourse, cycling is seen as an efficient way to commute in urban environments and a key component in advancing more sustainable transport. In Sweden, cycling is more prevalent among the more afflu-ent population, but there is (with some exceptions) little knowledge on cycling in low-income areas. Given that well-developed cycling infrastructure is available and that bicycling is a comparably low-cost transport mode, higher rates of cycling in disadvantaged neighbourhoods could be expected. For policies that increase inclu-sive cycling to be implemented, there is a need to understand what makes cycling achievable for diverse groups. Based on the everyday cycling experiences of 31 families living in socially disadvantaged and ethnically diverse neighbourhoods in Sweden, this paper provides qualitative accounts of cycling, knowledge that can inform policy. Key concepts from urban sociology are used to analyse a person’s conditions for cycling. Our findings suggest that while cycling could be considered a practical, social, and flexible mode of transport, especially for younger people, only a few adults in our sample cycled. The results reflect an ambivalence toward cycling as part of everyday mobility. Cycling was perceived as something “typically Swedish”, a norm conditioned by age, gender, and body related weights and reliefs and hard to combine with everyday care- and work responsibilities. The gap between preferred and used mode implies an untapped cycling potential, a finding that suggests that pro cycling policies need to pay increased attention to broader social justice perspectives to support cycling (also) in disadvantaged neighbourhoods.