Walking and Cycling in Māngere: Community experiences of Te Ara Mua – Future Streets

Abstract

Despite their high burden of physical inactivity-related disease and traffic injury, little is known about the active transport needs and experiences of socioeconomically disadvantaged populations in Aotearoa New Zealand. The recent implementation of Te Ara Mua - Future Streets, a built environment intervention aiming to make walking and cycling safer and easier in the low-income, predominantly Pasifika neighbourhood of Māngere Central, provided an opportunity to examine this issue. The purpose of this study was to explore Māngere community experiences of Te Ara Mua - Future Streets and the features of the local context which influenced these. Guided by a qualitative descriptive approach, key informant interviews were conducted with eight community stakeholders and thematically analysed together with secondary data from three focus groups with local residents. The five key themes identified related to sociocultural norms, practical transport needs, personal safety, traffic safety, and community understanding and involvement in intervention development. The study findings indicate the Māngere community experiences a wide range of barriers to walking and cycling, only some of which the intervention sought to address. Sociocultural norms (such as cultural unfamiliarity with cycling) together with practical limitations (including insufficient time and money) led to perceptions that walking and cycling were unavailable to many community members. Both traffic safety and personal safety (security) were also key concerns, particularly with regard to children. Participants experienced the intervention as making walking safer and easier, while responses to the cycling infrastructure were mixed. Driving was felt to be harder and, in some cases, less safe than previously. Concerns about the extent and nature of community involvement in intervention development contributed to perceptions that some aspects of the local transport context had been overlooked. The findings suggest social environment and household circumstances are perceived as greater barriers to the use of active transport than the built environment in Māngere. Initiatives in these communities may therefore need to combine infrastructure improvements with programmes to normalise and make walking and cycling for transport easier for local families. Furthermore, alternative cycling infrastructure options and strategies to address personal safety concerns should be investigated.