Living mobility transitions towards bicycling. Designing practices through co-creation and socially influencing systems

Abstract

The urban environment informs the behavior of its inhabitants and their actions in turns shape this environment. These recurrent, circular causalities make cities to be of complex, nonlinear nature reinforcing prevailing mobility practices. Thus, a city´s final characteristics are not determined by designers and planners, yet rather their citizens, who can be seen as latent designers. Acknowledging potentially decisive impacts of citizen behavior for urban transformations, this article explores a methodology of involvement and social persuasion to foster bicycling. The analysis draws on social practice theory and explores how co-creation methodologies and socially influencing systems, persuasive information systems building upon social influence, can supplement practice-oriented design interventions. Social practice theory focuses on the integration of meanings, materials and competencies into routinized everyday habits linking structure with agency. The article presents a methodological approach to alter mobility practices and maintain their new composition through identifying pivotal practice elements to be subjected to socially influencing systems.