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<p>Development of cycling infrastructure is becoming a global trend in urban policies. High congestion, mitigating smog and CO2 reduction have led to the re-birth of cycling as a significant mode of urban mobility. The article aims to present the response of medium-sized Polish cities (ranging from 100.000 to 200.000 residents) to these challenges, which are among the most important problems to solve within the next decades. The study analyses the cycling policy of Polish cities, showing the dynamic increase in kilometres of cycle paths constructed (often built alongside street renovation projects), as well as the boom in bike-sharing programmes. Shortcomings such as the lack of consistency in realisation and varied implementation in different cities and culturally ingrained preference for cars, related to historical experiences of post-communist cities, are also outlined. The Polish approach is the cautious policy of carrots without sticks, in which solutions facilitating bicycle travel are not followed up by deterrents against using cars. As a result, there are no political conflicts and opposition regarding this issue, but the numbers of cyclists (although increasing) is still lower than in the world’s leading bicycle cities.</p>
</abstract>

Development of cycling infrastructure is becoming a global trend in urban policies. High congestion, mitigating smog and CO2 reduction have led to the re-birth of cycling as a significant mode of urban mobility. The article aims to present the response of medium-sized Polish cities (ranging from 100.000 to 200.000 residents) to these challenges, which are among the most important problems to solve within the next decades. The study analyses the cycling policy of Polish cities, showing the dynamic increase in kilometres of cycle paths constructed (often built alongside street renovation projects), as well as the boom in bike-sharing programmes. Shortcomings such as the lack of consistency in realisation and varied implementation in different cities and culturally ingrained preference for cars, related to historical experiences of post-communist cities, are also outlined. The Polish approach is the cautious policy of carrots without sticks, in which solutions facilitating bicycle travel are not followed up by deterrents against using cars. As a result, there are no political conflicts and opposition regarding this issue, but the numbers of cyclists (although increasing) is still lower than in the world’s leading bicycle cities.

Carrots Without Sticks: Cycling Policy of Mediumsized Polish Cities

Polish Political Science Review

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

{"article-title":"Carrots Without Sticks: Cycling Policy of Mediumsized Polish Cities"}

Development of cycling infrastructure is becoming a global trend in urban policies. High congestion, mitigating smog and CO2 reduction have led to the re-birth...

Carrots Without Sticks: Cycling Policy of Mediumsized Polish Cities

Published Online: Jun 20, 2023

Page range: 46 - 68

Received: Jan 21, 2023

Accepted: Mar 27, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ppsr-2023-0004

Keywords
cycling policy, cycling infrastructure, active mobility, bike-sharing, post-socialist city, sustainable mobility

© 2023 Adam J. Jarosz et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Carrots Without Sticks: Cycling Policy of Mediumsized Polish Cities

Published Online: Jun 20, 2023

Page range: 46 - 68

Received: Jan 21, 2023

Accepted: Mar 27, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ppsr-2023-0004

Keywordscycling policy, cycling infrastructure, active mobility, bike-sharing, post-socialist city, sustainable mobility

© 2023 Adam J. Jarosz et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
cycling policy, cycling infrastructure, active mobility, bike-sharing, post-socialist city, sustainable mobility