Qualitative ethnographic study reveals fatbikes provide critical accessibility and autonomy for urban youth, indicating that restrictive bans risk worsening mobility poverty.
Key Points
To examine how the fatbike operates as a disruptive mobility innovation and assess its impact on sustainable transport, social identity, accessibility, and autonomy.
Qualitative ethnographic study conducted in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Data gathered through field observations, intercept interviews (n = 52), and in-depth interviews (n = 12).
Public and media discourse primarily stigmatizes fatbike riders through narratives of antisocial behavior, creating a disconnect with users' lived experiences.
Fatbikes provide essential mobility justice by shortening perceived distances between city outskirts and central areas for youth and suburban residents.
Proposed and implemented municipal bans threaten to deepen mobility poverty and reconstruct barriers to social inclusion for marginalized riders.