Brussels’ vélomobility, more ‘art’ than science?

Abstract

Similar to other national and international cities, the Brussels-Capital Region has experienced a growing social and political interest for the bicycle as a valuable means of transport. Nonetheless, evidence suggests that Brussels’ unique institutional structure impedes the governance of vélomobility. Unlike a traditional policy analysis, this dissertation investigates the modalities of Brussels’ knowledge-power nexus. Accordingly, the following research question is addressed: "which role does knowledge (production) have in Brussels' governance of vélomobility?". To expose this question, a qualitative study of exploratory nature was conducted. Drawing on 58 mapped knowledge documents and seven expert interviews, it is suggested that Brussels has ample knowledge about vélomobility, but also that such knowledge is fragmented, heterogeneous and open-ended. Hence, this contribution concludes that Brussels’ governance of vélomobility is more an ‘art’ than science.

Date of Award	1 Jun 2020
Original language	English
Supervisor	Joost Vaesen (Promotor) & Frédéric Dobruszkes (Advisor)