A cycling culture should start with kids, allowing them to improve their health, social interaction and learning process. However, Latin American cities have some barriers linked to insecure cycling infrastructure, road safety and weak cycling habits. In this blog article, Amanda Padilla discusses how a cycling activity focused on small infants integrally addresses their well-being and harvests long-term positive impacts on society, the environment and mobility.
About the author: Amanda Padilla is an architect who graduated from the Polytechnic University of Milan. She is into developing child-care projects, develops public policies and manages public space projects and urban plans at public departments. Amanda has collaborated with Urban Cycle Planning of Denmark, coordinating the Cycling Games project in Quito, supporting data collection of this activity in La Havana, and assisting the Bikeable City Masterclass in Copenhagen. She represents Quito in the Bicycle Major Network Programme of BYCS.
Significant issues have been affecting children from early childhood, such as passive habits, reduced social interaction and poor health conditions with obesity being a serious global health problem. In 2022, obesity affected one in eight people worldwide, impacting 3 million children under five years old in South America. In Ecuador, a study shows that 36% of children between five to eleven years old are obese or overweight. Likewise, this problem escalates in young people and adults, leading to inactive and solitary lifestyles that impede social, mental and physical development.
In the context of child health, cycling not only addresses obesity, enhances social interaction and strengthens physical skills, but also positively impacts urban environments by decreasing air pollution and bridging socio-economic gaps. However, developing countries lack a robust urban cycling culture and school cycling programmes for children.
In 2022, only 0,6% of the population of Quito uses cycling as a mode of transportation. Inadequate and insecure cycling lanes, a weak cycling culture and a car-oriented lifestyle hinder the shift towards sustainable transportation. Despite local and national laws prioritizing active mobility and the efforts of activists and cycling organizations, a new cycling vision with strong and integrated cycle programmes will lead to a deep-routed cycling culture and policies.
Despite these challenges, promising practices are addressing these issues and contributing to urban solutions. In 2019, I learned about child-friendly cycling activities in Copenhagen and Quito, coordinating the project of the Cycling Games at the INEPE school from 2019 to 2024, an activity based on the Danish ‘Learning by playing’ methodology. This experience has underscored the importance of starting with young children to cultivate a cycling culture. The benefits observed from this activity include:
1. Long-term impact
In Quito, children and caregivers rarely cycle, reflecting a modest cycling habit. Introducing cycling to young children can help establish it as a lifelong habit. An activity that begins in early childhood will persist throughout the kid’s life and early childhood cycling experiences prepare children for urban cycling dynamics, promoting safety and confidence. Learning cycling skills can help them navigate and better cope with insecure cycle infrastructure in Quito.
2. Spreading the Cycling Practice
When children enjoy an activity, their parents often follow suit. In fact, ’cycling creates connections at many different levels and the value that young children and caregivers derive from these connections‘. When children start cycling, their fascination often motivates caregivers to participate and encourages them to spend time with their children. Thus, this culture is increasing and a deep-routed cycling culture can be achieved.
3. Development of social and physical skills through Cycling Games.
Cycling activities emphasize the development of various capacities and balance through play. This approach implemented both in Copenhagen and Quito, encourages active routines that foster the development of social and physical skills, tackling obesity and passive habits. The results are evident as children apply these skills in other areas of their lives. In Quito, for example, children are required to complete certain assignments before they can go out and play. This practice helps them establish a routine that cultivates a sense of responsibility and goal-oriented behavior. In Copenhagen, the frequent use of public spaces allows children to navigate through obstacles and urban furniture, which not only enhances their understanding of street dynamics but also strengthens their physical abilities. Public spaces are key elements on the child growth. Sporadically, in Quito, the activity is developed in streets, creating new relationships between the city and children, yet Quito doesn’t guarantee road safety and secure cycling infrastructure to expand it frequently.
4. Teachers develop new ways to educate
Training children in diverse contexts and cultures presents unique challenges, yet the educational benefits gleaned from activities like the Cycling Games are universally significant. Educators have adapted and enhanced their teaching methods based on these activities, demonstrating remarkable flexibility and creativity to meet the varying needs of their students. Each group of students presents different dynamics and requirements, necessitating a tailored approach to teaching. For instance, teachers at Hylet Kindergarten in Copenhagen have devised new games that require children to memorize elements with different colours, shapes and routes to prove skills simultaneously. In Quito, trainers have developed cycling games that minimize physical contact or develop soft games, specifically to accommodate and protect children with physical or mental disabilities.
5. Interaction contributes to socialization
The Cycling Games significantly contribute to the development of socialization skills. By promoting group play, mutual support and peer learning, the games create an environment where children can interact and build relationships with their classmates. This interaction fosters respect and teamwork, qualities that extend beyond the cycling activities into other areas of their lives, including interactions with family and schoolmates.
Broad Impact of the Cycling Games in Quito: ‘Please, bus driver, stop at the yellow light’
The Cycling Games in Quito have significantly influenced the community, particularly through their educational impact on road safety. Children of the Cycling Games project at the INEPE school, for example, teach adults important safety measures like stopping at yellow lights, demonstrating the programme’s success in instilling these habits. Over several years, the Cycling Games have fostered a strong cycling culture, with students, caregivers, teachers and school authorities all recognizing the programme’s benefits such as improving health and promoting sustainable mobility.
The Cycling Games is a key initiative in promoting mobility in Quito, fostering children’s development, health outcomes* and contributing to long-term changes in mobility. Data from 2021 shows a strong desire among children to cycle outside of school, indicating a positive shift towards incorporating cycling into daily routines. This enthusiasm suggests a broader impact on community behaviors and future city policies, promoting a more active and environmentally conscious urban lifestyle.
New infant-care public policies are being developed in Quito, presenting a great opportunity to introduce children’s cycling projects to address significant issues such as obesity or passive habits, contribute to increasing sustainable mobility and enhance urban cycling lifestyles. Those powerful contributions will create a new city scenario with a secured cycle infrastructure, a robust cycling culture and a healthy community.
A model for what the city could be
Pedestrian streets are a way to showcase a future that prioritises quality of life as well as active and public transportation. The appetite for pedestrianised streets, open streets, school streets or car free Sundays has grown in the last decades and can today be found in many cities; along Paris’ riverbanks, Bogota’s thoroughfares, Addis Ababa’s neighbourhoods or Gurgaon’s avenues. They can be used as a tool to expose people not just to what people centric public space looks like, but what sustainable transportation feels like. Church Street First blossomed into a healthier, and community-centric Bengaluru. The results are clear, and can provide a model for what the city could be: sustainable, active, safe, inclusive, and fun. Can Bengaluru lead this transformation by having one around every transit zone and in every neighbourhood?
Bibliography:
Padilla, A. (01 de July de 2020). A seed in the Mobility of Quito. Quito, Ecuador.
World Health Organization. (01 de March de 2024). One in eight people are now living with obesity. https://www.who.int/news/item/01-03-2024-one-in-eight-people-are-now-living-with-obesit
United Nations Children’s Fund. (2023). 2023 Report. Childhood overweight on the rise. Is it too late to turn the tide in Latin America and the Caribbean? Panama City: UNICEF Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Office (LACRO).
The Bernard van Leer Foundation & BYCS. (2020). Cycling Cities for Infants, Toddlers, and Caregivers. Amsterdam.
(Tello, Ocaña, García-Zambrano, Enríque-Moreira, & Dueñas-Espín, 2023)
The Municipality of the Metropolitan District of Quito. (March de 2024). Plan Maestro de Movilidad para el Distrito Metropolitano de Quito 2009-2025. Quito, Ecuador.
C40 Cities. January 2021. Ciclovías en la capital. https://www.c40.org/case-studies/ciclovias-en-la-capital/
Pucher, J., & Buehler, R. (2012). City Cycling. Massachusetts: The MIT Press.
Charlotte Basiliadis (Pedagog and educator at Kindergarten Hylet) in discussion with the author, May 16, 2024.
Guisella Pintag (Pedagog and educator at the INEPE school) in discussion with the author, April 30, 2024.