Labeled bike-haters in a nation of cyclists, Shanghai bureaucrats now seem to be backpedaling.
A ban on bicycles in much of this busy commercial hub's downtown has been widely derided since it took effect last month. With private cars clogging city streets, residents have scoffed at notions that the prohibition was needed to reduce congestion in China's largest city.
A tenfold increase in traffic fines for cyclists due to take effect in May has also been labeled a form of harassment aimed at discouraging bike use.
During the weekend, city officials announced plans to build a network of pathways dedicated for cyclists in the downtown area, newspapers reported yesterday.
While not an outright repeal of the ban, the bike path plan appears to reverse a trend toward pushing bicycles out of the city center, where traditional shophouses are being razed to make room for skyscrapers and shopping malls.
"The bicycle is still a premier transport tool in the city," Wu Jiang, deputy director of the Urban Planning Bureau, was quoted as saying by the Shanghai Daily.
Few details were given, although Wu said the bike paths would be integrated into urban renewal projects ahead of the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai.
Officials have pledged to redevelop a huge strip of riverside land to host the expo.
"We welcome visitors from home and abroad to go sightseeing in the city on saddles when the World Expo is on," Wu was quoted as saying.
With a population of about 20 million people, Shanghai is home to about 9 million bikes and growing. Although incomes have boomed along with China's economic fortunes, the majority still scrape by on the equivalent of a little over US$100 per month and favor bikes both for convenience and cost.
"China is a developing country," said city employee and critic of the bike ban, Yu Pengfei, quoted in the Daily. "Instead of banning bicycles, the government should consider banning private cars in certain areas."
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