The BIKEhub intervention study accompanies the development of a pedelec rental system in Wuppertal. It combines health and climate protection through sustainable traffic development. The study involves residents of the city quarters that will be affected by the planned infrastructure measure, as well as students and employees of the university. The focus is on increasing physical activity as well as quality of life and health relief in the city quarters, which will be achieved by changing the public (traffic) space. In order to research the health and socio-ecological effects across milieus and spaces, a mixed-method approach will be developed, which will be implemented by an interdisciplinary research team by using a real-lab approach. A dialog-based knowledge production on the expected health promotion among students and residents as well as the improvement of the affected living spaces (traffic calming) should contribute significantly to the acceptance of a bicycle-based transition to a new traffic system in Wuppertal.

In a first step, the BMBF has provided funding for a six-month conception phase. During this time, the consortium will develop detailed concepts for:

• the real-time laboratory, which will be used to research the intervention in situ
• the determinant and impact model of the pedelec rental system to be researched, which will be used to determine the impact of the pedelec rental system in a structured way
• the toolbox, i.e. the tools that will be used in the real-time laboratory.

In the possibly following realization phase, the developed research approach will be applied.

The project aims to implement an intervention study to establish a pedelec rental system in the city of Wuppertal. Health and climate protection are integrated, designed and advanced in the field of mobility. In doing so, healthy and sustainable living conditions and lifestyles of future users and city quarter residents are to be linked and promoted. The health promotion of the two target groups starts at different points: The users are expected to increase their physical activity through the use of pedelecs, while the residents in the city quarter will experience an increase in their quality of life and a reduction in their health burden through spatial development and improvement of the infrastructure. A shift of traffic from motorized individual transport (MIV) to cycling means not only a reduction of negative environmental effects in the city quarter, but also a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and resource consumption.

Through the BIKEhub project, new knowledge can be generated on the effectiveness and best possible realization of interventions, especially from a holistic-sustainable perspective including health, environmental and social aspects.

BMBF - Federal Ministry of Education and Research

Conception phase: June - November 2023
Possible subsequent realization phase: 3 years, starting 2024

Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Heather Kaths
kaths[at]uni-wuppertal.de
+49 (0)202 / 439 4433

Dipl.-Ing. Leonard Arning
arning[at]uni-wuppertal.de
+49 (0)202 / 439 4432

Bergische Universität Wuppertal:

School of Human and Social Sciences - Department of Health Psychology and Applied Diagnostics
School of Art and Design - Industrial Design

Wuppertal Institute