The person-environment configurations underlying everyday mobility behaviour - A systematic literature review on ‘Mobility Cultures’

Description

The concept of “mobility culture” embodies a holistic perspective on transportation systems as person-environment configurations going beyond mere infrastructure. Although the term can be found on the agendas of politicians, urban planners, and researchers, the notions attached to the term are heterogeneous and neither universally agreed upon nor defined. Thus, we conduct a systematic literature review aiming for an overview of a) definitions, and b) empirical operationalizations of spatially defined mobility cultures (e.g. cities). Our preliminary analysis reveals that only 1 in 4 papers define mobility culture explicitly, while most define it implicitly or use it as “empty signifier” (Bamberg et al., 2020). So far, three typical patterns of reasoning emerge, ranging from framing mobility culture as a) a holistic concept integrating material and symbolic characteristics of transport systems, b) the immaterial, symbolic dimension of mobility practices, and c) normative projections of sustainable future transport systems. Our findings highlight the interconnectedness of environmental (e.g. urban form, infrastructure) and psychological characteristics (e.g. attitudes, social norms) that underly different configurations of mobility culture. Through different qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method approaches mobility culture is operationalized by focusing on entire transport systems, individual-level mobility orientations, or implicit, partial indicators (e.g. acceptability of vehicle-sharing systems). Several papers aim to distinguish local mobility cultures by comparing them on varying spatial levels. We will synthesize gained knowledge and discuss future ways of operationalizing mobility culture, considering studies focusing on grouping spatial units based on mobility characteristics beyond the literature reviewed.

Period	22 Jun 2023
Event title	International Conference on Environmental Psychology
Event type	Conference
Conference number	2023
Location	Aarhus, DenmarkShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International