Common Good in Cities: People Who Cycle Are "Better" Than People Who Drive

"Orientation towards the common good in cities: The role of individual urban mobility behavior," Journal of Environmental Psychology (2023)

Abstract:  Orientation towards the common good is considered as a building block of  social cohesion and has been shown to benefit both social communities and their residents. Mobility behavior (e.g. cycling) is associated with many positive psychological variables, but little is known about its relationship with the orientation towards the common good. This study examined the relationships between mobility behavior and four facets of orientation towards the common good: political participation, social participation in organizations, neighborhood solidarity, and neighborly helpfulness. Using a longitudinal multilevel analysis, annual surveys between 2014 and 2019 of a representative sample of the German general population (GESIS PANEL, N = 410) were analyzed. Cycling rather than driving was positively associated with orientation towards the common good in all models. Cycling was the only variable that was a significant positive predictor for all four facets of orientation towards the common good after controlling for possibly confounding variables (homeownership, personal income, education, sex). This research demonstrated that mobility behavior is associated with the orientation towards the common good. These findings are significant for policy and planning because the benefits of cycling over driving are more profound and sustainable than previously thought.

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Makes sense to me that when you're riding (or walking) you're more connected to your community than when you're apart from it in a car.  

And this concept is expressed in an article about the Louisville Loop, a concept for a 100 mile trail loop around the core of Louisville, Kentucky, through various different land use contexts from Olmsted era parkways to the city's Riverwalk ("Louisville Loop architect of 30+ years drives effort to build more trails," Louisville Courier-Journal)

Despite the obstacles the Loop has faced in the last decade, Swintosky remains focused on the vision laid out by the Louisville Loop Master Plan, which called for the completion the 100-mile trail "that becomes an essential component for the growth and prosperity of the region."

"I mean, you could read the Louisville Loop Master Plan, but I can enunciate the words just from my own knowledge and experience," he said. "(The trails) are community-building, they provide good, healthy living opportunities. They give the community opportunity to experience parts of their own area that you don't get by just driving down a road."

This is an example of how parks, trails and open spaces contribute to community well being, engagement, and the presentation of third spaces.

In the entry on National Trails Day, I forgot to reference the term I prefer, "social bridge" and William H. Whyte's term, "triangulation" about how public spaces provide the opportunity for people who don't know each other to interact:

William H. Whyte and "triangulation."  Whyte, who had been editor of Fortune Magazine, became interested in cities and public space, and pioneered methods of urban observation, including filming people and how they used public space.  He wrote a couple of very important books on cities and activation, The Social Life of Small Urban Places and The City: Rediscovering the Center.

One of his concepts is what he called "triangulation," where people who didn't know each other talk to each other.  Triangulation is the process: 

in which a stimulus provides a social bond between people. Strangers are more likely to talk to one another in the presence of such a stimulus. The stimulus might be musicians, or street entertainers, or apiece of outdoor sculpture. Museum professionals will note the relation of these stimuli to landmark exhibits which have a similar effect.

Anne Lusk, in her dissertation on greenways, calls this a social bridge. and I like that term better, it sounds less "social sciency." She wrote about how to design greenways to promote social interaction: 

Except for a minimal number of elements, the environment does not facilitate interaction between strangers. While someone could hold open a door and a person passing through could say thank you, necessary ADA regulations are making many doors automatic. 

If social capital is to be increased and interaction between people who know one another and people who do not know one another improved, environments that might foster positive interaction should be built. At the destinations, social bridge elements could be incorporated in the built environment. These social bridge elements include four types:  

1) Assist, 2) Connect, 3) Observe, and 4) In Absentia. 

An assist social bridge is the built element that allows one person to assist another person. A connect social bridge is a form of William Whyte's triangulation where a third element is watched, such as people kayaking, and strangers talk as friends. An observe social bridge is the positive feeling when a kindness is witnessed and that kindness is facilitated by the element in the built environment. An in absentia social bridge could be experienced in the perception of the person who created or maintained the space for the enjoyment of the recipient. 

And we need to think about that more broadly, in terms of both design of spaces but also programming ("The layering effect: how the building blocks of an integrated public realm set the stage for community building").  And once again, David Barth's integrated public realm framework.

And that's exactly what I ended up doing a couple Sundays ago, crashing the Turkish holiday Kurban Bayramı (Eid al-Adha) held at Sugar House Park.  I made a new friend, and had great food and I learned a lot.