CeMoRe Workshop on e-transport

A workshop led by Dennis Zuev, Lancaster University and Frauke Behrendt, University of Brighton.

E-Bikes as Internet of Things -  Smart E-Velomobility? - Frauke Behrendt

We are in a transition phase from a screen-based network economy to an Internet of Things networked economy where most items around us frequently engage with digital networks and many form a constant part of data networks. This has interesting ramifications for mobility research because the emerging assemblages of people, things and data are all mobile in specific ways. This workshop reports results from researching such an assemblage, of cyclists (people), e-bikes (things) and an on-bike monitoring system (data) engaging in networked mobile practices. It draws on an empirical study where more than 100 riders of a networked fleet discussed their experience of engaging with cycling, data and mobility. The material shows how this new form of mobility  - “smart e-velomobility” - is distinctive, and may intervene in specific ways in the urban fabric and allows us understand how it represents a form of convergence based continuity " extending possibilities already found in a series of more discrete technologies or as yet unconnected trajectories, notably in “electric”, “velo” and “smart” mobility discourses.

The "bads" and "goods" of e-bike mobility development in China" - Dennis Zuev

The goal of this talk is to present some findings related to the ongoing project "Low Carbon Innovation in China", specifically to the prospects of the e-bike use as a form of urban mobility in China. E-bikes in China are the most visible form of  electric vehicles used  for individual transportation.  However the use of e-bikes  in some big cities and their central districts (Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen) has been  strictly regulated or banned. E-bikes nevertheless remain a popular mode of  mobility even in these cities: when used as  private transport, when used for hire for short trips (e-bike rickshaws)  and used as specialized delivery vehicles. In Shenzhen the ban of e-bikes  has much to do with the city's and central government attempts to construct the image of Shenzhen as a high-tech innovation hub, where e-bikes are not associated with innovation and thus should be invisible. In Beijing the e-bike users are seen by the car-drivers as transportation for people with "low quality".  The talk will discuss various  "bads" and "goods"  of e-mobility as seen primarily by e-bike users and opponents to its use in Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing.

There will be an evening meal paid for by CeMoRe in The Lounge following this event – YOU MUST REGISTER by emailing Pennie Drinkall mailto:drinkall@Lancaster.ac.uk if you would like to join us for the event and meal. 

Transition

Les recherches sur la transition s'intéressent aux processus de modification radicale et structurelle, engagés sur le long terme, qui aboutissent à une plus grande durabilité de la production et de la consommation. Ces recherches impliquent différentes approches conceptuelles et de nombreux participants issus d'une grande variété de disciplines.

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