Spatial democratization, urban citizenship and alternative mobility: A comparative analysis of bicycle praxis in Boston, Massachusetts and Bogota, Colombia

Bicycle facility implementation is a global phenomenon. This process started in Bogotá in 1998 and in Boston in 2007. Using interview data from city officials, advocates, activists, and transportation experts in both cities, as well as ethnographic and survey data, this thesis addresses how bicycle facility implementation is a response to the automobile and automobile-oriented urban planning in Bogotá and Boston and how urban citizenship and democratization are linked to bicycle praxis with respect to urban capacity and alternative mobility. It was concluded that the bicycle established a new paradigm in space and mobility in both cities, serving as a form of public intervention in introducing new forms of symbolic, practical, collective and individual bio-political power dynamics. Finally, it was found that Bogotá and Boston are being democratized by the bicycle in providing spatial representation and thus inclusion, which is a defining principle of Urban Citizenship.