Link: https://www.cyclingcities.info/your-city-next/cycling-cities-african-experience/
Cycling Cities: The African Experience has just been published. This landmark volume, led by Njogu Morgan (Wits University, Johannesburg), Ruth Oldenziel (Eindhoven University of Technology), Peter Norton (University of Virginia), and Yusuf Madugu (Bayero University, Kano), brings together 17 case studies in 12 countries from across the African continent.
Companion to Cycling Cities: The European Experience, the new publication will engage students, policymakers, and activists, and urban mobility enthusiasts interested in sustainability, transport, and social change.
From Aba to Zomba via Cairo to Cape Town, Cycling Cities: The African Experience serves as a catalyst for change. Building on the Sustainable Urban Mobility (SUM) research program, it unites interdisciplinary voices from Africa and Europe to explore how cities are reimagining movement, equity, and climate resilience. Together, we are fostering an intercontinental network of knowledge and expertise—one that connects local innovation with global sustainability goals.
Did you know that some postcolonial African leaders saw the bicycle as a symbol of empowerment? Julius Nyerere, Tanzania’s founding president, viewed it as a tool of self-reliance central to his Ujamaa socialist vision. In contrast, South Africa’s colonial and apartheid legacies entrenched car dependency and racial inequality—obstacles that cycling activists continue to challenge today.
Across African cities, pro-bicycle movements are reclaiming the streets—through new infrastructure, policy reform, and critical mass events. This book documents these transformations with maps, photographs, infographics, and tables, offering an engaging, visually rich, and academically rigorous story that will appeal to both scholars and general readers alike.