Give that lady a Bells

Approximately 12km, but I was having too much fun to actually measure.

This week I joined 9 other bicycle enthusiasts on a city ride from Josephine's Mill in Newlands to Bree Street in the city centre. It was exhilarating trying routes which I was completely unaware of, and new techniques I would never have dared to try. This adventure was organized by Bicycle Cape Town with guest appearances from some experienced local riders to even out the skill levels.

I was quite apprehensive about being the only participant on a fixed gear bike, especially not knowing the expected terrain and in seeing the range of machines I was expected to keep up with. My white wall tires and dynamo powered front light underscored my anxiety somewhat. Thankfully I was joined by one of my dearest friends who is as equally familiar with the area as much as my propensity to worry. It is one of my best qualifications for my least-likely-to-commute persona, so I embrace my bundle of nerves and hot-foot it!

Image by Leonie @ Bicycle CPT

The ride was a euphoric mix of tree-lined dappled corridors to multiple lane crossings with our fuel burning asphalt companions. Nothing I would dare do for the first time without assistance or a massive amount of saddle time behind me. The approximately 12km route took us through a series of zones where conditions, hazards and speed were similar. These zones are like a collection of outdoor rooms. They are nothing one is likely to find marked out on a map, they are patches of advocated continuity broken by larger order roads, hazards and remnants of dried-up funding. A simple change of surface treatment, path width or general traffic speed and a cycling environment is transformed. It was an incredibly eye-opening realization in urban design terms.
We were graciously informed at the briefing that the objective was not to break a sweat. My mind was so overwhelmed by the impilcations of what I was experiencing and how it will tie into creating a more authentic urban design response ... I did break a sweat. Or maybe it was because I had no gears?

I allowed myself to mentally relax after about 5km in, and after clearing the Saltriver overpass at the end of Liesbeek Park rd. In the midst of my self congratulatory thoughts, and the adolescent joy of freewheeling, there she was.

Salt River Circle. My first traffic circle on a bike.

Apologies to the cycling fraternity if I butcher the rules here, but this is how it appears to work.
You have just as much right to the road as a car. Behave like a car, be confident like a car and just GO! (..and feel free to use your bell). It was frightening, and I was hoping for some sort of group hug at the other side. Yet, we continued on, quietly appreciative of every safely negotiated intersection, enjoying the noise, the smiles and understated elation that is urban bicycle commuting.

Image by Leonie @ Bicycle CPT

My best nugget of advice after this ride would be to encourage less experienced cyclists to always ride in small groups when possible. Single file when on the road, of course, but a group-in-motion did prove to change driver behavior. It was of great assistance in The Circle and in every other situation where we aligned ourselves more with the rhythm of cars and by necessity were in the vehicular mix.
Finally on safety concerns, it would appear from a show of hands that all the ladies on the ride had found it important to have a bicycle bell. None of the male riders were sporting them. A thesis for another day perhaps, but an indication of how differently women perceive the potential dangers of cycling. In my opinion, at least half of our route covered would be unsuitable for a woman riding alone, especially in the late afternoon. Not to say these routes are unsuitable, but perhaps not designed with safety from opportunistic crime in mind.

All in all a great afternoon of exploration and encouragement. I am converted to urban bicycle commuting. The routes exist, the challenges can be overcome and friendships are waiting to be made. Half way through my self-styled cycle challenge to become a bicycle commuter, my next obstacle is possibly the greatest. It's overcoming 'the last mile'. T

he notion of city cycling is desirable and enticing, yet completing a full daily commute is a more complex challenge. 'The last mile' is a term used to describe the discontinuity in a daily commute between your transport mode and your home or your transport mode and your work destination. When the station is just too far or your place of work is outside of a transport corridor zone. The last mile is a substantial barrier to entry for city dwellers who commute in single passenger vehicles.

For the next 2 months I will endeavor to investigate the challenges of longer distance commuting and unlocking challenges of 'the last mile' with the help of a folding bike.

My sincerest thanks to Woodstock Cycleworks for providing me with the whitewall vintage 'fixie' used to complete this epic ride.

Follow Twitter @contestedspaces for updates and the life of "the least likely urban designer to get on a bike."

The pitter patter of little footprints

The results of this week's buzzword competition are out.  'Resilience' is the clear winner, followed at a respectable distance by 'Sustainability' and "Eskom' who appear to be holding hands on the podium but are not on speaking terms.

This weekend welcomes the launch of the Renewable Energy Festival at Green Point Urban Park complimented by a host of related activities also being 'activated' (fourth place) in the City of Cape Town. Voter registration is at the top of my personal list of ways to participate in saving the environment.

Now that I have shamelessly utilized journalistic techniques to motivate you to scroll down past my 140 character opening, here is the 'Going Green' story I really want to tell you.

Over the last few weeks, our family has participated in the hustle to be selected for the GBCSA Green House Project. An initiative by The Green Building Council of South Africa to test understand and overhaul the energy consumption a middle income home (and its inhabitants!) The selection process is not complete yet and while it may seem counter-intuitive to comment or post before it's resolution, that is precisely why I must. My experience this week in the events and exhibitions on sustainability have been in digesting the product rather than the process of arriving at the sustainability ideals we wrangle over.

Sustainability in my opinion, is about behavior change as individuals and as organized society. Whether we recycle glass and paper in the same bin or in colour-coded hanging baskets, it still requires the same commitment to pause and consider the impact of our consumption. 'Greening' is entirely about process, iterative design and the recognition that proposed outcomes and targets are constantly in flux as what we believe and how we think is shaped moment to moment.

"Mom, please tell the lady from the competition that I won't be disobedient at bath time anymore.." says Grace (5) after this weeks vetting and home visit of short listed project participants.
"...If all the kids bath together, we can save the world." She meant the environment!

I have seen countless changes in my children's behavior and our own as a result from participating in the vetting and application process for this project. Wonderful discussions around the viability of installing a windmill and a 6yr old's mathematical calculations of the volume of water used when showering have been the order of the day. From simple things like all 3 squirts agreeing to being in the bathtub at once to watching my 8yr old son quietly pack his already worn clothes back in his cupboard before they 'tell him' they need a wash...they are changing. The outcome is in flux yet the process is already bearing fruit.

When my children ask me what sustainability is, my new definition of this weeks 2nd place buzzword will be this: "Sustainability is when your heart tells your hands its okay to do things differently because you love the world that God made"
Process. Behavior change. Parenting.
  
So who won the GBCSA Green House initiative, you ask?
Every family that participated in the process.

Official winners announced next week. Watch this space!










  

Right About Stationary Bikes

After 60 days of emergence in my self initiated-cycle challenge, I have reached some surprising conclusions.

In an effort to understand urban bicycle commuting and the barriers to entry for individuals wishing to switch to non-motorized transport (NMT), I acquired a bike and started cycling. My initial responses are intended to be as authentic and personal as possible. As an urban designer, my hope is to superimpose this somewhat gritty perspective onto a carefully considered theoretical understanding of the transformative potential of NMT orientated cities.

With thanks to my kind sponsors Woodstock Cycleworks and 183km of Cape Town road surfaces, these are some aspects of urban cycling to consider:

The cycling ideal to which our city aspires to is an unrealistic neoliberal pipe dream.

Breathe. Consider the alternatives to the picture perfect, seemingly effortless cruise of a fixie to the rhythm of Mumford and Sons while casually sipping from a BPHfree bottle with custom crafted leather strap.
Urban commuting demands maximum awareness, pushing hard, getting off, leaning on, veering from, swerving, the s-word (showering) the f-word (fitness). Cape Town roads are highly contested spaces and a far cry from the organized carbon neutral bliss of our European role models. My experience of a Golden Arrow bus convoy, 9 vehicles in length, occupying and effectively neutralizing the Main Road public transport lane to all but buses was an example of this tussle at its finest.
It's nothing like the pictures (filtered with desaturated tones and grainy vignette).

Getting there is not the same as getting back. 

Planning is critical when setting out on a commute of even the shortest distances. In the case of cycle lanes, suitable crossings and road conditions, I have discovered that the route back is often much less accommodating. Not every cycle route welcomes traffic in both directions nor is suitable if you plan your return journey during vehicular peak hours. Routes are best planned as loops, adding variety and ensuring a thorough understanding of challenges along the way.

Spinning is just like cycling except it is not.

I reluctantly tried a spinning class on a rainy day I had intended for a long strenuous ride. Developing a cycling fitness is critical to a safe journey, so with that in mind I joined the 45min stationary bike session to at least get some kilometers behind me. Is was comforting to have a 1.5m berth on either side of me, which I knew needed only to be contested once. Each participant found their machine while the instructor cued up his playlist and dialed up the studio fans to maximum simulated wind speed. I expected to be surrounded by Lycra clad gym bunnies but was surprised to find how pleasant it was to ride two abreast while talking to my neighbor about his upcoming 8 day long staged cycle race. Sounds epic!
The Argus route map on the wall and references throughout the class to the gradients and challenges expected, left me with no doubt that the majority of participants were opting for the safer training experience. Spinning is exhausting, great fun and nothing like cycling at all which must be why it is so popular.

Four months remain for me to cycle and recycle my notions of urban commuting and the NMT experience in Cape Town. More questions will no doubt arise, but for the time being I will continue to uncover the authentic and gritty world that lies outside of my petrol powered cage.
Comments and tweets are welcome@contestedspaces
Don't forget your helmet.

Cadence Revival

Bike. Helmet. Lights [front and back]. Lock. Water bottle and route map. Sorted.

Where is everyone?

Six days into my urban commuter challenge and I am quiet astounded by how few cyclists I have seen in the approximately 40km I have so far covered. Admittedly I am staying within my neighborhood environs while I gain strength and confidence, yet I find the lack of cyclists somewhat unnerving. And so begins the tussle between expectation and reality.

My city is to host the worlds largest timed cycling event in 89 days time. With less than 12 weeks to go, I am expecting to join our local compatriots on our cities roads, following one of a variety of training programs on offer to ensure the 110km event is successfully completed. If statistics are to be believed, almost 11 000 participants in last years event were from the Western Cape. I am looking forward to more cyclists, comrades and veterans of the road-gutter to join me on the roads as I make sense of this thing called cycling.
I am however not training, I am commuting. This is altogether different.

In my limited experience thus far, these are some of the differences between training cyclists and commuters. Firstly, I need a safe, covered place to lock my bike. Commuting is as much about the destination as it is about the (well planned) trip. Secondly, and very importantly, commuter bikes are different to R10k triathlon bikes/racers and other such machines. If I ride over a pinecone, stormwater grate or pothole at speed, I am sure to have an accident. There are countless such obstacles alongside the kerb where cyclists are expected to ride. This is a real challenge. I am likely to ride in the centre of the lane at some point. Not because its fun, but because I do not wish to crash. Finally, and on the positive side, I have no desire to ride 3 abreast, in a group, not stop for fear of ruining my training time, jump curbs, cross traffic and race taxis to get my heart rate up. I don't have the need or the equipment.
I simply want to arrive - not in a car.    

I made the mistake of expecting family and friends to be more supportive of my efforts to gain insight into NMT (non motorized transport) design as I don the gear and learn what cadence means. Some of my friends are overjoyed, however the majority of discussions with those less keen are peppered with the sorts of foul mouthing one would expect to hear when on the road. Most of the annoyance was centered on how cyclists have no right to be on the roads to begin with. I was quite saddened that my suspicions are proving to be correct. We are no where near to a tipping point in public perception or public behavior that would make cycling more favorable commuting option. Even with 11 000 riders needing to do at least 1 training session before the big day.

I made sure that those who love me don't inadvertently mow me over and texted them a picture of my lovely bike to remind them what the 'right of way' might look like in the future.

I certainly have my work cut out for me, and with 560km of my urban cycle challenge to go, I am so glad it will be worth the effort.

Mind the Gap

An aspect of the process of urban design which fascinates me without fail is the space between perception and reality.
Recently a community group I spoke with lamented that there were so many homeless living in the local park. Upon investigation, I discovered that there in fact just 3 homeless gentlemen sleeping in the park. The community group wrongly assumes that homeless folks don't own a change of clothes! The gap between perception and reality could be closed here with a simple introduction and eye contact recognition.

Perception. Reality. Spatial consequence.

I have never owned a bicycle. My perception is largely that the city is a hostile environment, with roads being the saddest of the spaces where true human nature can be expressed. Not too different from open forums on popular/controversial blogs. Why would I inhabit that space without the maximum protection afforded to me by the 30 000 parts that make up the average road vehicle?

Of course the reality of the situation is that not all roads are created equal, not all roads are used equally and not all road users are equally treated. Were I to attempt to negotiate Claremont Main Road every morning during peak congestion periods I may find my perceptions remain fixed. In recently reviewing my car usage however, I have found that more than half of my car trips are under 10km in distance and outside of peak hours. Additionally, everyone of those trips can be made using alternate routes/back-roads should I chose to do so.

Tick tock.

Tomorrow I will begin my epic cycle challenge. Yes, that is a veiled attempt an aligning the challenge of changing my perceptions with the challenge of completing 718km of mountain bike madness (Google ABSA Cape Epic!). I will be collecting my bike tomorrow from a kind sponsor who believes that one voice can sometimes be loud enough. I will find the back roads and use my bike as much as possible to the tune of 100km a month minimum. I have yet to understand what is required from a kit perspective, but the minimum of a helmet, light and carrier have been met. I am still searching for a Go Pro sponsor, so if that is you - let me know!

To what end.

I advocate for mixed used developments from the comfort of my swivel chair. Every self respecting urbanist does. I have not considered the complexity of mixed use roads from the comfort of a saddle. Every self respecting urbanist should.


Follow the journey with me @contestedspaces

Gutterlaw

Contested spaces are places in our city where multiple users claim ownership mostly through occupation, often through association and rarely through legal ownership. My previous series of blogs have focused on the introduction of public art and role of social commentary through art into public spaces. Contested spaces.

This week, under the authority of the Western Cape Provincial Road Traffic Act, Provincial Transport MEC Robin Carlisle issued a series of regulations intended to increase road safety. The regulations stipulate that a 1 metre gap be given to cyclists when being passed by a vehicle. In addition to what cyclists have branded the 'gutterlaw', regulations outline important aspects such as riding with a helemt, no earphones and very importantly remaining in single file.

Our roads are potentially the most contested spaces of all. Public squares and pedestrian routes glazed with eurocentric aspirations of public life leave time to pause and consider. They create opportunities to connect, interact and engage. Our roads however, are spaces contested at speed, with intentions to arrive sooner, move faster and not engage at all, certainly not to connect.

The design solution for spaces contested at speed requires rethinking existing norms. An important principle in all the urban design work that I undertake is that of equality. How should the language of space making frame and reinforce the participants desire to be there, and perceived ownership of that space? In other words when is it appropriate and to what degree do designers allow participants to feel safe, comfortable and accepted?
 
In the case of public roads, our asphalt strips and cycling laws successfully relegate cyclists into the gutter spaces where stormwater debris, stones and litter must be contended with. Additionally, interruptions of the free flow of traffic through pedestrian crossings and signals are seen as necessary evils and often go unheeded by motorists. The case for pedestrian orientated design can be wrapped in commercial interests like street cafes, desirable meandering past shop fronts and the like. Creating cycle friendly and skateboard accommodating spaces are stapled onto discussions about better, greener cities but to what end?  If you have a car, you use it.

Cyclists and other non-motorised transportation modes simply do not equally share the public road space by design. Other than safety and convenience, there is limited motivation for real change as in my opinion, as there simply are not enough cyclists to tip the balances. And herein lies the challenge.

I don't cycle. I don't own a bike. In my mind I understand the need to have more cycle friendly places and spaces but in reality I am loathe to count myself amongst the brave few who go out there into these unequal spaces. I am a mom, living in suburbia. I enjoy driving and the feeling of safety it provides me. But what would happen if I got on a bike and tried, wrote about it and advocated for equality from a saddle rather than a comfortable swivel chair? I care about equality and I am in a place professionally to co-design spaces that can be informed by such an experience.

So starting in December I will be investigating and writing about the contested space that is the road. I will commit to riding 100km every month for 6 months, blogging twice a week and tweeting like crazy (@contestedspaces). What do I need from the cycling community?
- Use this project to further your advocacy!
- I need gear. Of course I will shamelessly promote you and laud you for your efforts. What bike does a mom in suburbia ride? Helmet, light etc. A huge barrier to entry is knowing what works and what doesn't.
- A Go_Pro would be helpful to document evidence.
- I need some lessons on street smart riding. I cannot over emphasize how inexperienced I am and how willing I am to learn.

With the use of my fabulous network of friends and collaborators, I will included some published writing into this smorgasboard of benefit and experimentation.  

I am utterly convinced that diversifying the type and number of non-motorised transport users in our city will go a long way to improving the way our roads are contested. I am very excited to begin this journey with all of you on wheels. Let the challenge begin.

Kirsten

Urban Migration

During a recent city walk through the inner city streets of Cape Town, an interesting discussion was sparked. Led by Creative Cape Town and the Cape Town Partnership, our tour of public art and public life brought us to a scene I witness regularly in Harrington Street. The daily migration of street traders, carting their temporary structures upwards of a kilometer through the city streets to their assigned plots. The discussion was about access to land, distribution of opportunity, and the micro scale urban migratory patterns occurring everyday in our city.

In order for the traders to successfully negotiate the route to the more pedestrianized inner city from the storage facility in Harrington Street, rickety heavy laden carts are first hauled to the middle of the roadway to negotiate the equally strong camber. I look on nervously hoping the cart will not veer out of control into parked vehicles - how many bags of chips and cigarettes will replace a smashed headlight or broken side mirror on a Range Rover?

To my surprise, each trader sets out on this journey alone. Every morning and every evening. No assistance, no camaraderie and no women traders in sight. The conditions are very disheartening and I can only hope that the role out of cycle lanes in our city will also take into consideration other non motorized transport such as these carts. Of course a more sustainable solution would involve accessible storage facilities adjacent to the trading sites to ensure that women, the elderly and everyone less physically capable would be able to trade informally should they wish to do so.

Storage and the daily hauling of goods is an integral part of the discussion around decisions to use non motorized transport. What other migratory patterns within the city should inform the design of the streetscape and manner in which we design shared services?
Stop.
Not for a moment am I sending out a heartfelt call for a designer to design "the-ultimate-store-all-repurposed-airport-trolley" although perhaps there is space for ACSA to be involved here. What is concerning and where perhaps the solution process should begin is in understanding why traders are not assisting each other in this daily commute. The networks of commonality and community of struggle in my observation are not well functioning in this situation and may be poorly served by another designed object.


Lets learn the story, haul trollies, understand the commute, and come to terms with the challenges are facing this community and others who migrate daily in our city.