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Will New Mobilities Beget New (Im)Mobilities? Prospects for Change Resulting from Mongolia’s Trans-State Highway

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Engineering Earth

Abstract

Geographers and political ecologists suggests that road/rail megaprojects are most commonly motivated by a desire for agricultural colonization, relief of urban or other population pressures, extraction of natural resources, integration with regional transportation networks and the world economy, as well as a compulsion to facilitate greater access to potentially vulnerable border regions. This list encompasses virtually all of the reasons for Mongolia’s proposal for its first trans-state highway. While still in the planning stages, the so called Millennium Highway offers an opportunity to hypothesize on the impact of a major transportation artery in a society traditionally associated with pastoral nomadism. In essence, the very future of the nomadic lifestyle in Mongolia will be affected by this mega-transportation project and how it will facilitate new patterns of mobility and immobility.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Senior Scholar in Eurasian Studies, IERES Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University, Washington, USA

    Alexander C. Diener

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  1. Alexander C. Diener
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Correspondence to Alexander C. Diener .

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  1. Dept. Geography, University of Kentucky, Lexington, 40506-0027, Kentucky, USA

    Stanley D. Brunn

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Diener, A.C. (2011). Will New Mobilities Beget New (Im)Mobilities? Prospects for Change Resulting from Mongolia’s Trans-State Highway. In: Brunn, S. (eds) Engineering Earth. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9920-4_36

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