Module Title: Biking in London

Aims and Objectives This module explores some of the ways we understand the production of urban landscape. Through the overarching theme of biking in London, the modules examines how cyclists and bicycles make and are made in the urban space. Moving from bikes as both a mode of transport and means of experiencing the city, we will explore the multitude of biking experiences The questions of cycling and urban space will be tackled through a series of lectures, seminars and practical documentation exercises. We will consider what London, as an urban landscape, entails and why cycling matters. This module will include the first-hand exploration of biking in London, as well as looking at its portrayal in an interdisciplinary perspective. You will think through cycling with the group, work on practical assignments and you will also be required to cycle and document your experience in your own time. By the end of the module you will have an understanding of a variety of the different approaches to ways urban landscape is produced. The theoretical and practical skills involved will be transferable to other aspects of your degree. This module will allow you to make direct connections between theory and practice and to understand how the relationships between the two.

Assessment:
The module is examined by a portfolio which will be made up of several elements produced throughout the module. It is important that you work on the different elements throughout and do not leave it till the last minute. These elements are based on your own research, visual work, and field notes and will include: Biographical piece of writing about biking through a part of London during the day and then at night Each must be 500 words in length Biker map made by you of a particular locality- of various dimensions Visual or audial piece to document and explore a bikers experience getting ready for biking, and while on the road

There is also a group design project whereby each of you is assigned an area and as biker you have to cycle through it and identity safety hazards, problematic junctions or intersections, and accidentrelated road conditions. You must then upload the identified points and issues onto the online map, which is accessible on the VLE. By the end of the course we aim to create open-source online platform providing information on the Londons cyclists safety hazards. This project will contribute to the on-going debates about to design and reshape a biker friendly city. Week 1: This week will serve as an introduction to the module and some of the themes involved. Why cycling in London? What makes London a city to cycle? How do we cycle? How does our experience as bikers tell us about the production of urban landscape? Week 2: politics of the city We will consider debates about the politics of the city, and the right to the city as bikers. This is an opportunity to engage with issues of state policy, and media representation of biking.

Week 3: This week will be an exploration of the social and historical background of biking into London. This brings up issues of biker identity and identification, both historical and current? Do we all bike the same way? How does this difference create a multiplicity of experiences of the city, the bike as a medium? Week 4: comparative case studies In this week we will examine biking in other global cities to allow us to explore potential intersections and divergences. In addition we will look towards global borrowing practices, as bikers and urban planners adopt policies or practices from other cities. How is biking approached outside the UK? What can be adopted? How is it adopted and by whom? Week 5: routes and mapping We will consider the history of mapping biking routes in London and the ways the approach changed over time. We will also explore the ways various academic disciplines have studied, or are studying, biking and bikers experiences. We will investigate a variety of narratives of biking. What the links and intersections between formal mapping and bikers maps or mapping processes? Week 6: review We will review the online group project that you have all been working on. Through it we will discuss reshaping the city as bikers, and return to issues of the right to the city. Each student will be given the time to make a short (5 min) presentation about their portfolio.