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Space–Time Design of the Public City pp 171–185Cite as

Encounters in Motion: Considerations of Time and Social Justice in Urban Mobility Research

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Part of the book series: Urban and Landscape Perspectives ((URBANLAND,volume 15))

Abstract

This chapter investigates the qualities of urban travel time by looking at daily mobilities as time-spaces of social encounter. Following the ‘new mobilities paradigm’, we regard everyday urban mobility not only as a ‘means to an end’ but also as an ‘end in itself’. This implies a move from instrumental, utilitarian and deterministic understandings of travel time towards a holistic conceptualisation of urban mobility that calls for the embedding of social qualities of travel in urban planning and design. We argue that urban public transport networks are political sites of the everyday wherein emancipatory and discriminatory practices are not only enacted but also reshaped through different events, encounters and processes. Hence, we challenge traditional time-saving strategies in transport appraisal and call for a more complex and politicised approach to time in policy-making that would highlight a socially just consideration of speed, efficiency and qualitative aspects of urban travel.

Funding Statement: This research was supported by the Flemish Agency for Innovation by Science and Technology, IWT-SBO grant SPINDUS ‘Spatial Innovation, Planning, Design and User Involvement’ (Project IWT 090080).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, Global Urban Research Unit, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK

    Konrad Miciukiewicz & Geoff Vigar

Authors
  1. Konrad Miciukiewicz
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  2. Geoff Vigar
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Correspondence to Konrad Miciukiewicz .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Inst. f. Stadtplanung/ Regionalplanung, TU Berlin, Hardenbergstr. 40A, Berlin, 10623, Berlin, Germany

    Dietrich Henckel

  2. und Regionalplanung, Stadt‐ und Regionalökonomie Sekr. B4, Institut für Stadt‐, Hardenberg‐Str. 40a, Berlin, 10623, Germany

    Susanne Thomaier

  3. Institut für Stadt- und Regionalplanung, TU Berlin, Hardenbergstr. 40a, Berlin, 10623, Berlin, Germany

    Benjamin Könecke

  4. , Dipartimento di Architettura e Pianifica, Politecnico di Milano, Via Golgi 39, Milano, 20133, Italy

    Roberto Zedda

  5. , Dipartimento di Architettura E Pianifica, Politecnico di Milano, Via Golgi 39, Milano, 20133, Italy

    Stefano Stabilini

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Miciukiewicz, K., Vigar, G. (2013). Encounters in Motion: Considerations of Time and Social Justice in Urban Mobility Research. In: Henckel, D., Thomaier, S., Könecke, B., Zedda, R., Stabilini, S. (eds) Space–Time Design of the Public City. Urban and Landscape Perspectives, vol 15. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6425-5_12

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