The bicycle and the dream of a sustainable city: An explorative comparison of the image of bicycles in the mass-media and the general public

• The representation of bike in the media (TV, magazine, and traditional and online newspaper) was investigated.
• 94 residents of a big city were also interviewed on the use of bike in a big city.
• Contents of the two representations were compared.
• Results showed several points of overlap but also some discrepancies between the two representations.

This paper explores the representation of the bicycle by comparing data from various mass media sources and the general public in Italy. In study 1, a number of commercial advertisements published on paper magazines and aired by the major TV channels, as well as 405 articles published by the major online newspapers were content analysed in order to identify the main concepts and evaluations characterising the representation of bikes in the media. In study 2, 94 Rome residents were interviewed on their beliefs regarding the pros and cons of using the bike in the city and their perceived social approval. Results showed several points of overlap between the two representations, although different themes and structures emerged as well.