| dc.description.abstract | Globally, the urban transport sector is facing a diversity of problems such as pollution, congestion, high energy dependency, and parking space shortage. Cycling is considered as a desirable means of transportation, which may contribute to a more sustainable urban mobility future, as it is broadly accepted as a low-carbon, inclusive, and healthy mode of transport. In the past decades, bike sharing emerged around the globe, but for a long time there was no significant effect when it came to stimulating the cycling rate in China. However, after the introduction of the dockless bike-sharing systems in 2016 in many of China’s cities, the growth of cycling is unparalleled. This thesis focuses on China’s urban mobility and takes Shanghai as a case, exploring the cycling revival in the past three years through a practice theory lens. Based on participant observations and interviews, this thesis found that the rise in shared cycling was triggered by the vast amount of a new and vital material element—the dockless shared bikes, which benefitted from technological advances, the emerging collaborative consumption form, and the bottom-up developmental model of bike sharing system. The cycling rise is also powered by China's recent economic transition, which provides great capital assistance and the governmental support for rapid scale-up. Besides, the modern lifestyle, including the prevailing usage of smartphone applications, on-line payment, and fast-speed urban life, has provided a solid base for the rise of (shared) cycling. Based on my empirical data, I also found that shared cycling is mostly practiced for first/last-mile problems and other occasionally urban short-distance trips. I concluded that these trips mostly substituted walking and public transports taking, so it is necessary to be critical when talking about how green this cycling rise is. Keywords: shared cycling in China, urban mobility, sustainable mobility, social practice theory, dockless bike sharing | eng |