Shared space, (un)equitable place? Exploring inclusion at the Steve Smith Bike Park pump tracks

As advocacy for 'inclusion' becomes more prevalent, there is a growing expectation for leisure spaces to be welcoming and accessible to all. Concurrently, there has been a substantial increase in the development and use of pump tracks as urban leisure spaces, which have been identified as 'sustainable' and 'inclusive' for diverse users. In this paper, we use an ethnographic approach, informed by intersectional theory and reflexive thematic analysis, to unpack the first author's observations of what inclusion did (or did not) look like at the Steve Smith Bike Park in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada. We also address why these observations may be important for service providers who have developed or would like to develop a pump track within their community. Ultimately, we assert that despite considerable rhetoric to the contrary, pump tracks are not inherently inclusive. Rather, pump tracks require deliberate and ongoing community engagement to become (and remain) inclusive.