How does this impact on Community Wellbeing? The benefits of cycling to wellbeing and also the inpact on a community are well known, proven and compelling. Fact(s). Create bike storage facilities in areas with high density living (apartments and tenements) so that greater cycle use is supported and made possible by those people that can. Registration and management systems should be digitized for efficiency reasons. In addition build Repair, cleaning, maintenance facilities that can be used by cyclists to support skills (and perhaps even jobs in some models) in areas with bike storage facilities including for ebikes. Communities would further, gain from events, activities and indirect and consequential benefits of more cycling occuring e.g. safety, security, mental health, communication, neighbourhood connections etc. Why should the Committee focus on this as part of their future work? Infrastructure that has a high degree of ownership ("thats where i store my bike"), participation and benefit to citizens should rank higher than other infrastructure opportunities, i.e. often the whole benefit to wellbeing is only "costed" and the mitigated costs of car pollution, GP visits, anxiety from congested roads, sense of safety of darkened streets with less people nearby that arent in a car... (and more are not weighed) Its 2019 + Edinburgh is a city + cycling = :) :) :) :) :) :)
Only 34.4% of households in Scotland had access to one or more cycles. This level falls for people on lower incomes. Even if a cycle is affordable many people live in a location where there is no safe and secure bike storage - e.g. tenements or flats. We need more safe and secure bike parking in these residential areas or provide zero interest loans so that people can afford them. Access to a bicycle or safe storage is an equality issue.
Bike for Good has worked with communities for almost 10 years now and we can confirm the impact cycling has on people's health and wellbeing as well as the positive impact on a community. A great example is our 3 year old community hub in one of the most deprived neighbourhood in Glasgow, Govanhill where we have developed a free programme of cycling and maintenance activities for the locals to improve their confidence. In 2 years, we had to move to a bigger premises to keep up with the demand!
Bike storage and repair facilities for apartment and city areas
This content is created by the open source Your Priorities citizen engagement platform designed by the non profit Citizens Foundation