Mobility and Beyond: Explore the Spatial and Functional Effect of Cycling ban on Huangpu District, Shanghai through crowd-sourcing data

Cycling is regarded as one of the most sustainable, affordable, accessible, and most healthy transportation methods (UN Habitat, 2018), which facilitate short distance travel with characteristics of safety, convenience, and comfort. While China encompasses a long history of bike transportation for its competitive prices and high accessibility, until recently Chinese cities has viewed cycling as inferior choice for urban mobility, thus sometimes curbing its usage in highly dense area by banning certain roads from traversing. Huangpu district in Shanghai, China is such a place. As the cradle of modern-day Shanghai, it is amid one of the most urbanized areas in China, it boasts its richness in historical blocks and features a great deal of scenic spots like the Bund, East Nanjing Rd. and People's Square, etc., who naturally calls the needs for a walkable and cycling-friendly environment. However conversely, it also has most cycling curbing roads in Shanghai, in order to improve motor traffic conditions in highly restricted street space. As an outcome of historical issue, it’s almost impossible to accommodate multiple traffic flows at the same time. However, the self-organization and connectivity of road network as well as its role in vitalizing public spaces are undermined in the price of coordinating motor traffic. As a public policy, it is of significance to identify its impacts in a holistic viewpoint. While existing literature most discussed the mobility aspects of urban cycling, this research aims to explore the impact of cycling restriction through urban function and vitality. With the help of emerging crowd-sourcing data, which more accurately reflect the opinions of users, we find that areas with high vitality coincide with those stipulated as cycling restricted. Besides, not only this policy undermines the accessibility of urban traffic nodes, its effect on improving motor traffic has found to be limited. Then, through urban spatial and functional perspective, we discuss the stresses it may impose to the space quality local area. At last, a systematic revision to the cycling restriction policy is proposed, as we aim to alarm local actions in terms of the complexity of urban space and policy decisions should be more well-grounded.