Analysis the Private vehicle dependence in Europe using Mobility Justice
P2: Analysis the Private vehicle dependence in Europe Through the Lens of Mobility Justice
The Concept of Mobility Justice
Ideally, everyone worldwide should have an equal right to access safe and sustainable transportation. However, this is not the case at the time of this study. According to Sheller (2018), mobility injustices often arise from complex, multifaceted causes and occur at individual, local, national, and global scales. To address these issues, he proposed the concept of Mobility Justice, an approach that examines how environmental, infrastructural, and social inequalities interact to affect people’s access to fair, safe, and sustainable transportation (ibid.). Scholars like Harada (2023, p.426) describe Mobility Justice as “an intersectional approach to addressing multiple forms of injustice.” This study considers Mobility Justice a suitable framework for analysing and addressing the sustainability problem associated with private vehicle dependence in Europe, given the intersectional causes and consequences of this issue.
Applying the Concept of Mobility Justice
Private vehicle dependence in Europe can be viewed through the lens of infrastructural injustice. According to the European Commission (2023), a significant urban-rural divide in public transport exists across European countries. Urban areas generally benefit from robust public transport networks, while rural areas often face limited access (ibid.). Addressing this urban-rural divide is challenging for European nations. Economically, low population densities in rural areas make it difficult for transport operators to recover operational costs (ibid.). Additionally, physical challenges make route planning in rural areas more complex than in urban areas (ibid.). Consequently, reliance on private vehicles is often higher in rural than in urban areas within European countries (ibid.). In this sense, private vehicle dependence in Europe can be seen as a direct result of infrastructural injustice.
Mobility Justice enables us to move beyond infrastructural injustice and examine the issue from a social injustice perspective. Sheller (2023) claimed that car-centric lifestyles have been culturally embedded in many nations for decades. Boussauw and Vanoutrive (2017) agree to the point, they use Belgium as a case study and add that, policy decisions often favouring car access over sustainable alternatives. Such a situation not only reinforces private vehicle dependence but also creates social injustice (ibid.). For example, people without the means or ability to drive often have limited access to jobs, services, and social opportunities (Sheller, 2018). Therefore, private vehicle dependence in Europe can also be considered a source of social injustices.
Under the concept of Mobility Justice, the issue of private vehicle dependence in Europe also enhances environmental injustices. Many European nations have environmental policies aimed at reducing emissions. Nevertheless, as long as private vehicle dependence remains, environmental injustices persist. At a national level, Davis and Ramírez-Andreotta (2021) argue that communities located in high-traffic areas are often lower-income or marginalised groups. These communities may be less reliant on private vehicles themselves, yet have no choice but to be exposed to air pollution and associated health hazards caused by other motorists (ibid.). On a global scale, Sheller (2023) contends that communities in the Global South frequently face climate-related issues not caused by their own actions, but rather as a result of the high-mobility lifestyles of the Global North. For instance, in 2022, per capita CO₂ emissions in Europe were 6.86 tonnes, - almost seven times those in Africa (Global Carbon Budget 2023, cited in Our World in Data, 2024). Thus, private vehicle dependence in Europe exacerbates environmental injustices both within and beyond the region.
In short, Mobility Justice provides a valuable framework for examining the multifaceted causes and consequences of private vehicle dependence in Europe. This comprehensive understanding has the potential to inform effective strategies for addressing the issue.
References:
Boussauw, K. and Vanoutrive, T. (2017) Transport policy in Belgium: Translating sustainability discourses into unsustainable outcomes. Transport policy 53:11-19. DOI: 10.1016/j.tranpol.2016.08.009
Davis, L. F. and Ramírez-Andreotta, M. D. (2021) Participatory Research for Environmental Justice: A Critical Interpretive Synthesis. Environmental Health Perspectives. 129(2) CID: 026001. DOI: 10.1289/EHP6274
European Commission (2023). “Bridging urban-rural transport divides”. [online] Available from: https://urban-mobility-observatory.transport.ec.europa.eu/news-events/news/bridging-urban-rural-transport-divides-2023-03-29_en (Accessed 03/11/2024)
European Investment Bank (2024). “Public transport: 64% of Europeans ready to make the switch for environmental purposes” [online] Available from: https://www.eib.org/en/infographics/adopting-more-environmentally-friendly-means-of-transportation (Accessed 28/10/2024)
Harada, T. (2023). Mobility Justice and Sustainable Futures. Australian Geographer, 54(4):425-431 DOI: 10.1080/00049182.2023.2271615
Our World in Data (2024). “Per capita CO2 emissions by region, 2022”. [online] Available from: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/per-capita-co2-region (Accessed 31/10/2024)
Sheller, M. (2018). Theorising mobility justice. Tempo Social, 30(2):17-34 DOI: 10.11606/0103-2070.ts.2018.142763
Sheller, M. (2023) Mobility justice after climate coloniality: mobile commoning as a relational ethics of care, Australian Geographer, 54:4, 433-447, DOI: 10.1080/00049182.2023.2178247
UN (2024). “Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable” [online] Available from: https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2020/goal-11/ (Accessed 28/10/2024)