Defense Date

2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Urban & Regional Planning

First Advisor

Dr. Sarah Raskin

Second Advisor

Emily Smith

Third Advisor

Jim Smither

Abstract

This thesis explores the embodied experience of cycling in Richmond, emphasizing the importance of centering firsthand, lived experience in cycling research and urban planning. While traditional transportation planning can often myopically prioritize efficiency and safety metrics to evaluate infrastructure, this project argues that such approaches overlook essential experiential, sensory, and emotional dimensions of cycling that determine how infrastructure is perceived, used, and ultimately succeeds or fails.

Through an ethnographic approach combining field observation of cyclist behavior and mental mapping sessions with Richmond cyclists, this study positions people who bike in Richmond as expert knowledge holders. Participant contributions, combined with observations of cyclist behavior, reveal nuanced understandings of how cyclists actively interpret, improvise within, and adapt to the built environment in Richmond. Findings demonstrate that navigation is shaped not only by the presence of infrastructure, but by factors such as gaps, maintenance, traffic interactions, perceived safety, environmental conditions, and opportunities for enjoyment and connection.

These insights challenge conventional, consultation-based models of community engagement, underscoring the need for co-creative, cyclist-led research and planning practices grounded in lived experience. They also highlight the value of flexible, iterative planning strategies, particularly Lighter, Quicker, Cheaper (LQC) approaches, that allow infrastructure to more immediately respond and adapt to cyclist behavior.

Rights

© Emily Schreer

Is Part Of

VCU University Archives

Is Part Of

VCU Theses and Dissertations

Date of Submission

5-1-2026

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