Arrested Mobility in the Cycling Capital: Exploring Equity and Belonging in Amsterdam’s Bicycle Paradise
Lecture by Charles T. Brown
- Date
- 5 September 2025
- Time
- 15:30 -17:30
- Location
- Roeterseilandcampus - building A
- Room
- A2.10
Throughout the month, the Centre for Social Science and Global Health (SSGH) will host a series of events as part of our (Un)healthy Cities series, on the occasion of the 750-year anniversary of the city of Amsterdam.
On Friday 5 September, together with the Urban Cycling Institute, we welcome distinguished American researcher, urban planner, and activist Charles T. Brown. He will deliver a lecture on urban mobility and racism, with Q&A moderated by UvA lecturer & CEO Urban Cycling Institute Meredith Glaser.
Brown invites us to reflect on how race, ethnicity, class, and identity shape access to safe, welcoming, and equitable mobility. Through research, storytelling, and recent examples, from the rise of “fat bikes” to concerns about enforcement and affordability, this lecture explores the quieter, often overlooked ways that barriers to access persist, even in places known for progress. Rather than casting blame, the keynote offers a space for learning, unlearning, and growing together.
Whether you're a researcher, practitioner, student, or advocate, this talk encourages us all to ask: Who still feels left out—and what can we do to change that?
Join us in imagining a future where bicycle justice is shared justice, and mobility is a right experienced by all.
About Charles T. Brown
Charles T. Brown is an internationally respected mobility justice scholar and author of Arrested Mobility: Overcoming the Threat to Black Movement.
He is the founder and principal of Equitable Cities, a minority- and veteran-owned urban planning, public policy and research firm focused at the intersection of transportation, health and equity. He is also an adjunct professor at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University.
Charles is an award-winning expert in planning and policy and has been interviewed by several notable outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, the Guardian, VICE and Bloomberg CityLab. He is highly regarded as a keynote speaker and leads workshops on transportation, health and equity for audiences worldwide.
