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Cycling for Children & Caregivers
BABY STEPS
Based on the findings of the report Cycling Cities for Infants, Toddlers, and Caregivers published in 2020 by BYCS and the Bernard van Leer Foundation, Alex Baum and Lucas Snaije outline the benefits of cycling to children and caregivers, describe barriers to cycling for these groups, and identify a set of short-term steps that interested cities can take
Learning to cycle begins at a young age, © Shani Halevy
Over a billion children live in cities worldwide, cared for by a large portion of the adult urban population. Despite their prevalence, our public spaces and transportation systems too often exclude their needs. Such oversight makes caregiving difficult and unsafe, and threatens children’s ability to thrive from play, learning, and proper development.
Ensuring safe and comfortable cycling as a viable mobility option for caregivers and young children can provide myriad benefits that have been traditionally ignored by city planners and bicycle advocates. If realised, these inclusive cycling strategies would contribute to greater wellbeing for all and should thus be further centred in the mobility conversation.
Caring for Caregivers, too
For caregivers, cycling can be an empowering tool, due to the likeliness to trip-chain. These often misunderstood mobilities result in disproportionately expensive transportation that fails to accommodate caregiver journeys. Importantly, women are more likely to be undertaking such journeys, meaning that greater consideration for caregiver mobilities must be addressed to achieve gender fair cities. Many low-income caregivers rely on walking and public transport, making multiple stops at off-peak times in neighbourhoods often located along loud, congested, more polluted arterials, bearing a higher environmental burden and making access to jobs and basic amenities more difficult. If the right conditions are provided, the bicycle has an important role to play by offering a healthy, sustainable, energy efficient, and low-cost mode of mobility that is free of schedules and transit routes.
A mother in Mexico City riding with her daughter, © BYCS
Ensuring safe and comfortable cycling as a viable mobility option for caregivers and young children can provide myriad benefits that have been traditionally ignored by city planners
Cycling as an All-Round Learning Experience for Children
Seated on the front or back of a bicycle, infants and toddlers learn and develop their cognitive abilities through call-and-response: an inquisitive gesture or sound followed by a caregiver’s comforting touch, reassuring voice, and clarifying explanation. The close physical proximity and unrestricted panoramic view that caregivers and young children share while cycling together make this connection effortless. Cycling also enables young children to gain greater spatial and environmental awareness through mental mapping or the rapid processing of millions of observations they make when moving through a busy street, such as assessing risk and identifying danger, critical skills needed for urban life. The bicycle also connects young families to community and nature. A ride to the grocery store, through the park, or along water provides many opportunities for young children to discover their natural and built environment and for the caregiver to connect these observations with learning. The sounds, sights and smells of being outside, moving at a child-friendly speed, with the ability to pause for further investigation gives cycling the freedom and flexibility that infants, toddlers, and caregivers need.
Seated on the front or back of a bicycle, infants and toddlers learn and develop their cognitive abilities through call-and-response
A father teaches his child to cycle in India, © Dhiraj Singh/Bernard van Leer Foundation
Benefits for the Cities – Benefits for All
Beyond these direct benefits, cycling also provides a number of broader benefits to cities. Cycling with a caregiver makes physical activity a part of daily life from an early age and can play a role in preventing health risks arising from increased sedentarisation. Rising levels of air pollution are also contributing to health issues, environmental challenges, and increased urban inequity. Increased cycling could help counteract these challenges while making daily life healthier, easier, less stressful, and more predictable for the people who need it most. Caregivers could have more frequent, longer, and positive interactions with their children, necessary for their cognitive development and for long-term success in life.
The Barriers to Change
In order to realise these benefits, a number of barriers must be addressed. Safety, both while cycling and generally in public space, with a particular focus on the perception of safety in addition to the actual level of safety, should be the main priority. Additionally, the perception that cycling is “not for me”, often because of its adoption by the very poor (no-choice riders) and very rich (choice riders) and which is further magnified by imagery glorifying cars and motorcycles, should be addressed. This perception dampens demand that reduces the justification for protective infrastructure, education, training, and awareness campaigns, in addition to a scarcity of proper equipment, such as child seats and transport bicycles.
Initial Steps to Addressing Barriers
With a range of barriers, it is difficult for cities to know where to begin. Infrastructure is expensive and politically risky, so it is key to have quick wins early to gain buy-in. Cities should prioritise pilot projects that are quicker and cheaper to implement. In combination with marketing and events, these demonstration projects can help people experience the benefits of an area where cycling is safe, easy, comfortable, and fun. Open-streets and car-free days as well as group rides help make cycling seem more normal and make people feel safe while cycling with others.
Open-streets and car-free days as well as group rides help make cycling seem more normal and make people feel safe while cycling with others
To overcome the high up-front cost of owning a bike, cities can partner with bike shops and community centres to offer lease-to-buy or work-to-own programs. Cycle training programs can be set-up in school yards or parks with a particular focus on teaching young children and caregivers. From the beginning, the emphasis should focus on making streets and public spaces safer and healthier for all users, not just cyclists. Such a broad message helps to increase acceptability amongst the population and makes it more difficult for opponents to cast the effort as only for a select few.
More to Come
To date, there has been limited research conducted on the advantages of cycling for infants, toddlers, and caregivers as well as the broader benefits that incorporating these groups into a city’s cycling strategy provides. In addition, data on this topic, such as the specific health and development benefits, that would be crucial for research and decision-makers, should be collected. By taking these small steps, cities can pave the way for a healthy, sustainable, and equitable future. Infants and toddlers who have grown up cycling with their caregivers and then on their own have a greater chance to have a happier and more productive life. If we plan our cities and shape policy in a way that guarantees their ability to cycle safely and comfortably, communities and individuals will thrive, regardless of age or background.
© Bernard van Leer Foundation/STIPO Publishing
The City at Eye Level for Kids
A book in collaboration with the Bernard van Leer Foundation’s Urban95 initiative, The City at Eye Level for Kids contains over 100 contributions from across the world on work to improve cities for children and the people who care for them. It shares practices, lessons, perspectives, and insights from 30 different countries around the world about how to make urban development work at child scale.
© BYCS/Bernard van Leer Foundation
© Global Designing Cities Initiative
Designing Streets for Kids
The guidance in Designing Streets for Kids captures international best practices, strategies, programs, and policies that cities around the world have used to design spaces that enable children of all ages and abilities to utilize cities’ most abundant asset – streets. The guide includes design recommendations and case studies that highlight streets that are safe, enjoyable, and inspirational for children and caregivers.
Active Mobilities of Care
To accompany its research on the positive connection between cycling and early childhood (0-3 years old) development, BYCS explores in this interview series the different strategies to make cycling in cities safer and more comfortable for the youngest and most vulnerable in society.
Alex Baum and Lucas Snaije are, respectively, Global Networks Manager and Content and Communications Manager at BYCS. Contact them: alex@bycs.org and lucas@bycs.org
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