The Ajiro Tricycle: Sustainable natural production through the development of a bamboo human powered vehicle

The social and urban framework of the modern world relies heavily on automotive culture to augment a lifestyle centered on freedom of movement, convenience and prestige (see, for example; Abbott and Wilson 1995, 262-263; Freund 1993; Litman 2009; Marsh and Collett 1989; Sloman 2006; Urry 2010, 116-130). Historically, governments have investigated policy and future transport planning through measures, such as considering methods for achieving low emissions through systems that involve infrastructural and behavioral change (town planning, carpooling, low emission vehicles and bicycle usage). Whilst these measures are critical for addressing current engine particulate emissions and traffic density, government information on recommending alternative HPV vehicle types beyond bicycles has not been produced at the time of thesis publication3 . As an alternative to current automobility, the veromobile is described by Cox and Van de Walle (2007) as a "… kind of car without an engine" (114) by augmenting some functions of both bicycles (human power, simple drivetrain, no licence) and cars (fairings, cargo capacity). Further diversification of HPVs or velomobile types

has been achieved through experimenting with variations of layouts for specialised tasks such as load carrying (see; Cox 2008, 147-149; Papanek 2009, 238-241), commuter proposals (Papanek 2009,264) and racing development (Van de Walle 2004, 45,62-63, 92), which has unlocked the potential for HPVs " ... tak[ing] less energy, go[ing] faster ... [the rider being] safer and more comfortable, provid[ing] more weather protection, and even ... more manoeuvrable than standard bicycles" (Abbott and Wilson 1995, 110, 258-259).