Cycle Highways as a 'Liquid' Policy Concept: The Proliferation of an 'Active' Mobility Policy Concept in the Netherlands

Abstract

One way to support active mobility is by the successful articulation and diffusion of new bike-infrastructure concepts. This paper studies the journey of one such concept in the Netherlands, namely the cycle highway, which nowadays is often referred to as a 'fast cycleway'. These routes provide high-quality and spacious cycling facilities connecting (sub)urban residential sites to nodes of work and study. They are built with the aim to induce a substantive modal shift in regional commuting from car and transit to cycling. Currently, there are nearly 300 fast cycleway initiatives in the Netherlands, of which 52 have already been constructed. Based on 27 interviews with planners, engineers and lobbyists, this paper traces the success of the fast cyclepath concept through the perspectives of "articulation" and "liquidity". We find that fast cycleroutes emerge as whole, coherent entities through six separate vocabularies, namely of demonstration, quality framing, policy rule and contract, planning diplomacy, financial wizardry and design negotiation. Each vocabulary gives rise to a "global form" fuelling the "currency" and perfomativity of the fast cycleroute concept. Different contexts also induce considerable differentiation, raising the question how far the concept may be stretched.

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