Alec Khachatryan

I defended my PhD proposal in January 2023, and am currently working on my research. My dissertation explores citizens’ participation in urban planning, focusing on citizens’ initiatives (both formal and informal) that shape Ontario cycling policies in different ways, contributing to social and urban changes.

My research is guided by three questions:
1. How do citizens’ cycling initiatives frame issues of concern and what impact does it have upon their operations and impacts?
2. How do citizens’ cycling initiatives interact with mainstream institutions (e.g., municipal policymakers and planners)?
3. What impacts on cycling policy do citizens initiatives have?

To address these questions, I use a mixed-methods approach that draws from social movement, social practice, urban planning, and cycling literatures.

Publications

Khachatryan, A., Tiznado-Aitken, I., Voorheis, P., and Silver, M. (2024). Understanding the Behavioural Determinants of Active Travel Among Older Adults: A Mixed Methods Study. (submitted to the Journal of Transport and Health).
Ravensbergen, L., Ilunga-Kapinga, J., Ismail, S., Patel, A., Khachatryan, A., and Wong, K. (2022). Cycling as Social Practice: A Collective Autoethnography on Power and Vélomobility in the City. Mobilities. (under review by Mobilities).
Mitra, R., Khachatryan, A., and Hess, P. (2021). Do New Urban and Suburban Cycling Facilities Encourage More Bicycling? Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment 97 (August): 102915.

Supervisor 

Dr. Paul Hess