Not Just China — Bike Graveyards is Now a Global Issue
Bicycles ending up in canals or dumping grounds are glorified as both a tragedy and a sport. Vandalism and theft are reasons often stated by different city officials who examine this issue. However, on social media reels today, the activity is considered ‘fun’ and engaging where the creators summersault a bike off a plank into water. The Hudson, Nile, Tyne or Seine, no river or canal seems to be exempt from the nuisance of bicycle dumping. The idea of technology-driven bike-sharing services like Ofo, Mobike, and Vélib, was to promote the idea of micro-mobility and encourage an ecological and equitable model to commute at the convenience of technology. However, the situation, in reality, seems quite conflicting.
The Discursive History
The idea of bicycle dumping is not a phenomenon of the recent past. The act entails the thrills of both recreation and the agenda of politics. Historically, in Cambridgeshire, young boys would resort to the stolen bicycles into the water as joyriding. In times of war, bicycles were seen as a commodity of politics. During World War II, resistance leaders urged residents to throw their bicycles into canals to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Nazis. In the 1930s, communists amused fascists by throwing their bicycles into the Prinsengracht, also known as the “Prince’s Canal.” The 1963 Dutch novel Fietsen naar de maan portrays bicycle drowning as a ‘sophisticated form of theft’. Thus, the act of bicycle dumping is intertwined with the historicity of city politics.
Emergence as a Global Issue
The New York Times was quick to point out the problem as an exhibition of the true nature of the Chinese People. The problem is evidently highlighted by news portals in China, but little is said about similar scenarios occurring in tourist cities like Amsterdam, Tokyo, Sweden, Melbourne, Cambridge and Paris. Amsterdam, famously iterated as the city of bicycles, faces the issue due to the overpopulation of bicycles in the city and the stretch of canals in the city. The situation in Amsterdam once upon a time was so grave, that the city officials had to scrape the underside of flat-bottom barges. The solution to the issue was found in the tradition of bicycle fishing. Even today, fishers pull out around 15,000 abandoned bicycles from underwater. Tokyo sanitation workers complained about bikes being abandoned in parking lots and alleys. In Rome, a bike-sharing service was halted after too many bicycles were abandoned in the Tiber. Similar situations have also been noticed in Boston and New York as well.
Technology: Boon or Disguise?
Bicycle-sharing businesses were originally conceived to make city life commutes ecologically friendly. However, in recent years, dockless bike-sharing services have turned out to be the business of abandonment. The problem has resulted in the creation of bicycle graveyards across different cities in the world. A question that popped up is the question of privacy on bike-sharing applications. A comment made regarding the application Mobikes read, ‘The chips used in Mobikes are unsafe and disclose users’ personal information.’ The bicycles send the rider’s whereabouts as frequently as every few seconds using wireless connections and built-in GPS chips.
The media was quick to resort to calling out the apathy caused by such services in China. The ignorance on the front of the West is quite evident in how issues the reporting of bicycle dumping is. The fact that a bicycle is disposable and recycling is a snag, it is important to speak out on issues like this from a global standpoint. It is not just mismanagement in the name of convenience but also ignorance in the name of ecology safety.
