Cycling promotion and narratives of urban development: an ecolinguistic approach

The discursive strategies taken in the Mayor’s Transport Strategy in London are examined relative to reporting in the popular press. The perspective of ecolinguistics is used to observe how the language employed to discuss issues concerning cycling, walking and car dominance tends to reinforce the dominant automobility frame, even when promoting active mobility. Cycling, instead, needs to be promoted through values that are different and distant from the core ideals of liberalism and capitalism. Ecolinguistics can be employed to identify these new narratives. A focus on well-being, highlighting the benefits of cycling for physical and mental health and the reduction of collisions, is likely to be most effective.