Tracing the history of bicycles from the draisienne of the 19th century to prototypes of the 21st while endeavoring to discuss the economic, cultural, and social environment surrounding them as well as their technical aspects, Frédéric Héran recounts an alternate history of urban transport with talent and humor. Left in the back of the garage for decades, today the bicycle could in effect reveal itself as the ideal tool for making the city a harmonious, egalitarian, and shared space.
Frédéric Héran is an associate professor in economics at the Université de Lille 1 and a researcher at the Centre lillois d’études et de recherches sociologiques et économiques.