Representations of space stem from ideal visions of the
city produced over time. The following maps bookend the
20th century.
The first map was published in 1898 by businessman A.M.
Askevold. The second map was published by the CIty of CHicago
and the Chicago Bike Federation in 2001.
Legends are to the right.
Although street infrastructure has changed some of the
main avenues for cycling in the 19th century, including
Milwaukee Ave and Halstead St., remain cycling arteries
today. Roll your mouse over the map below to see how bike
routes have changed.
Click here for more on the history
of cycling in Chicago. >>
The North-East Illinois Planning Commission and city of
Chicago published cycling maps in 1992, 1995 and 1999. These
maps cover the entire Chicagoland area, and are therefore
not incredibly detailed maps of the city. These maps provide
a basic guideline for a few areas, but do not really inform
of the condition of the streets. In 2001, the city published
a cycling map with the Chicago Bike Federation. This map
is a very detailed map of the city, including proposed routes,
recommended routes, and detailed account of the existing
transportation infrastructure. This document also provides
rules of the roads and guides on safe cycling practice (signaling,
how to make yourself visible, where to ride on roads without
bike-lanes, etc.) This map was designed by cyclists for
both the hard-core and the more leisurely riders. It introduces
the city to a novice rider and provides guidelines for ways
to navigate the city based on routes commonly agreed on
by the bike community to be safe.
This representation of space is a successful tool that helps
shapes social practice by giving the interested yet fearful
rider confidence and knowledge about how to safely traverse
the city on a bike. This tool can of course also be deceiving—Chicago’s
Critical Mass list-serve frequently discusses issues surrounding
the safety of bike lanes as well as ‘safe’ and
‘unsafe’ routes. Also, the map has a North-Side
bias. The biking movement in Chicago is not nearly as strong
on the South-Side. The South-Side biking infrastructure
and street system in general is not as advanced as the infrastructure
on the North-Side. According to Chicago Bike Federation’s
T.C. O’Rourke, the man who tests these routes, the
city’s infrastructure is not perfect for biking, especially
on poor fringe areas of the city including the south side,
but the map provides highlights routes that are safer and
connect most areas of the city. Using this map a person
on the far south side can find a route to go to the north-west
side on his or her bicycle. This map, or representation
of space in Lefebvre’s terminology, reflects the daily
reality and urban reality (social practice) of the bike
community as studied by the CBF and an aggregated city ideal
(representational space) where biking is possible.
