Geographies of Transport and Mobility: Prospects and Challenges in an Age of Climate Change

Geographies of Transport and Mobility aims to provide a comprehensive and evidenced account of the intellectual and pragmatic challenges for personal mobility in the twenty-first century. In doing so, it argues that geographers have a key role to play in shaping academic and policy debates on how personal mobility can become more sustainable.

The book is structured in three parts. Part I explores how personal mobility has evolved since the mid-nineteenth century, plotting the intricate relationship between new forms of mobile technology, urban planning and design and social practices. Part II examines how researchers study transport and mobility, and outlines the different intellectual trajectories of transport geography and geographies of mobilities. Part III then outlines and discusses the discourse of sustainable mobility that has emerged in recent years; the ways in which social, economic and environmental sustainability can be promoted through different strategies, focusing on behavioural change and urban design.

Geographies of Transport and Mobility provides a unique perspective on personal mobility by demonstrating how the way we travel has developed through complex economic and social processes. It argues that this historical context is critical for considering how mobility in the twenty-first century can be more sustainable, not just environmentally, but also economically and socially. As such, it argues for a renewed focus on sustainable place making as a way to radically shift mobility practices. Geographies of Transport and Mobility is designed to appeal to advanced level undergraduate students and researchers in the fields of geography, anthropology, psychology, sociology and transport studies.

Stewart Barr is Professor of Geography and has worked as a researcher and lecturer at the University of Exeter since 2001. His current research focuses on critically understanding intellectual and policy discourses on behavioural change and sustainability.

Jan Prillwitz is an independent travel behaviour researcher who holds a PhD in Geography from Leipzig University. His main research interests are in sustainable travel, mobility styles, concepts of new mobilities and the role of socio-psychological factors for individual travel decisions.

Tim Ryley is Professor of Aviation at Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia, where he is head of the School of Natural Sciences. He has over 20 years’ experience within transportation research and his expertise is in the fields of airport planning, airport surface access, airport operations and air travel demand, as well as the broader relationship between transport and climate change.

Gareth Shaw is Professor of Retail and Tourism Management at the University of Exeter Business School and is also currently an Innovation Fellow at the Advanced Institute of Management. He was formerly Professor of Human Geography at the University of Exeter and undertakes research on tourism innovation and tourist behaviour.