Designing Bike-Friendly Cities: Interactive Effects of Built Environment Factors on Cycling

Abstract

Designing bike-friendly cities could promote health and mitigate climate change. Most studies of the association between built environment and cycling have used the “5Ds” framework and linear modeling. However, built environment exerts multiple and complex influences on travel behavior. To better inform urban design for cycling, this study employed geographical detector models that quantify the explanatory power of both individual and interactively paired built environment factors on cycling. Data came from 6.5 million bike-sharing orders in Shanghai. Expectedly, we found that street network centrality and important facilities such as supermarkets and libraries have the greatest independent and interactive effects on bike-sharing use. More surprisingly, streetscape elements offered significantly higher explanatory power when paired with sky views, building frontage, and important facilities. By identifying thus far overlooked interactive effects of urban environment factors, the study provides guidance for urban designers to consider combinations of factors that can effectively promote cycling.

Keywords: Cycling, Street View Images, urban design, bike-friendly city