Affordances of scenic cycleways: How recreational cyclists interact with different environments

Scenic cycleway leads a physically active way of recreation, introduces a low carbon tourist economy to remote and less developed areas. Its construction and designation are increasingly been considered as valid policies for public health and sustainable development. Aiming at encouraging more and better usage of scenic cycleway, this paper adopts affordance theory to explore the complex interaction between cyclists and cycleway environments. Based on previous theoretical work on environmental affordances, we have developed a three-dimensional analytical framework to examine the supply and demand, patterns, and factors of the actualisation of affordances, using a cycleway in the outskirts of Kunming, China as a case study. Results show that 1) scenic cycleway usage includes recreational, incidental, consumptive and sportive categories, consists of 18 types of affordances, and their supply-demand relationships indicate the general usage condition of the cycleway; 2) environment’s function meanings and physical attributes both affect the actualisation of affordances: attractions, amenities, natural areas, and locations with cultural significance invite cyclists to perceive and utilise affordances, whilst everyday environments discourage the actualisation of affordances; 3) Roadway, roadside and climate are the main factors of affordance actualisation, hereinto, natural landscape, traffic operation, and climatic factors are the most significant features that influence recreational cycling. The above findings present a pathway for the evidence-based planning and design of scenic cycleways, so as to consolidate the health and sustainable benefits from recreational cycling.