Title

Build It? Why and Where? Intentions, Attitudes and Preferences About Cycling in the Greek Context

Time

1:40 - 3:00pm

Location

1605 Tilia, Room 1103, West Village

Abstract

Greek cities represent a typical example of the “paradox of intensification.” Although they are compact, car-restriction policies are absent, while cycle infrastructure are extremely limited, resulting in low levels of bicycle use. Younger age social groups have recently begun demanding more cycle infrastructures, while some local municipalities have developed new cycle networks. Public acceptance is a key factor for the success of these initiatives. The lecture will present two studies aimed: a) to explore, through social psychology methods, the intention of a Greek city’s residents to use a new cycle network and b) to plan the metropolitan cycle network of Athens using participative multicriteria methods. New evidence on the relationship between attitudes, norms, Perceived Behavioural Control, habit and intentions to cycle are presented, along with a methodological way to explore what is important from the cyclist’s point of view in cycle network planning.

Biographical Sketch

Dimitris Milakis is a Transport & Urban Planner, PhD (2006, National Technical University of Athens-NTUA). Until 2012, he was affiliated with the Sustainable Mobility Unit, NTUA as a Research Fellow and with the Dept. of Architecture, University of Patras as an adjunct Lecturer. His research focuses on the nexus between the built environment and travel behaviour, while he is also interested in bicycle networks planning and design. He was recently awarded a 2-year Marie Curie International Grant from the European Commission for a joint UC Berkeley & TU Delft research project (“New Compactism”) focusing on the relationships between urban micro- and macro- scale effects on travel choices in San Francisco, CA and Amsterdam, The Netherlands.