HomeThe Death and Life of Car Mobilities?
The Death and Life of Car Mobilities?
Déclin et survie des mobilités automobile ?
Published on Tuesday, October 23, 2018
Abstract
Paris city shut to traffic the riverside road in 2016. This closure has stirred up the media but also professional and academic circles. Some people see it as the end of the car in the city. For others, the car is back in town, but under different configurations. Almost sixty years after the publication of The Death and Life of Great American Cities (Jacobs, 1961), which challenged the role of car-oriented planning, this Flux special issue focuses on car mobilities in metropolitan areas.
Announcement
Presentation
Sylvanie GODILLON - Gaële LESTEVEN
Paris city shut to traffic the riverside road in 2016. This closure has stirred up the media but also professionaland academic circles. Some people see it as the end of the car in the city. For others, the car is back in town,but under different configurations. Almost sixty years after the publication of The Death and Life of GreatAmerican Cities (Jacobs, 1961), which challenged the role of car-oriented planning, this Flux special issuefocuses on car mobilities in metropolitan areas.
During the 20th century, the automobile system was progressively built through the development of the carindustry, services, road networks, culture and lifestyle (Dupuy, 1999; Flonneau, 2008). As early as the 1960s,critics began to emerge against the predominance of the car in cities (Jacobs, 1961; Buchanan, 1963),denouncing space consumption, congestion, pollution, and road accidents. Car mobilities in metropolitanareas raises various issues (Orfeuil, 2010). For example, some suburbs are car dependent. Their inhabitantsrely on the car to access basic services (Motte-Baumvol, 2007).
In reaction to urban sprawl, some theories – such as the New Urbanism in North America and the CompactCity in Europe – are in favour of more density and propose a shift from the private car to public transportand active modes (Henderson, 2012). While some imagine a “post-car” future (Dennis and Urry, 2012),others point to contradictory policies (Reignier et al., 2009) such as the renewal of downtown areas closedto road traffic in parallel to road infrastructure development in the periphery.
Car makers provide technical and technological innovations (vehicle electrification and automation;geolocation and digital applications, etc.). Together with the development of collaborative practices(carsharing, carpooling), these innovations would help promote a more sustainable and safer urbanmobility. However, these objectives are not always achieved. Despite the introduction of the notion of "peakcar" (Goodwin, 2012), the daily use of the private car tends to be maintained in many European cities (Focasand Christidis, 2017) and contributes to a reinforcement of socio-spatial inequalities.
Is it the death or life of car mobilities? This special issue questions the evolutions of the automobile system,its externalities, related public policies, discourses and beliefs. In cities of the North and South, more andmore initiatives come from the private sector, making the governance of car mobilities more complex, atthe local, national or supranational level.
Theoretical or systemic contributions are expected, questioning what constitutes the automobile systemtoday and its resilience. Works on past and future perspectives on the role of the car in urban and networkplanning are also welcome, as well as papers on travel behaviours, governance and discourses related tothe evolution of car mobilities.
Calendar
- December 15th, 2018 : authors should send a long abstract of 800 words maximum, accompanied by ashort biographical note with full contact details and institutional affiliation toboth: sylvanie.godillon@gmail.com and gaele.lesteven@enpc.fr
- January 15th, 2019 : flux editorial committee will select abstracts. Authors will be informed of theselection.
- May 15th, 2019 : authors should send a complete version of their article (9,000 words maximum)
References
Buchanan C., 1963, Traffic in towns, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.
Dennis K., Urry J., 2012, Post-Car Mobilities, in: Conley J., Mclaren A. T. (eds), Car Troubles: Critical Studiesof Automobility and Auto-mobility, Farnham: Ashgate Publishing, p. 235-251.
Dupuy G., 1999, La dépendance automobile. Symptômes, analyse, diagnostic, traitement, Paris : Éditions Anthropos.
Focas C., Christidis P., 2017, What drives car use in Europe?, European Commission, Joint Research Centre.
Goodwin P., 2012, Peak Travel, Peak Car and the Future of Mobility: Evidence, Unresolved Issues, PolicyImplications, and a Research Agenda, Discussion Paper, OECD.
Henderson J., 2012, The Politics of Mobility: De-essentializing Automobility and Contesting Urban Space, in: Conley J., Mclaren A. T. (eds), Car Troubles: Critical Studies of Automobility and Auto-mobility, Farnham: Ashgate Publishing, p. 147-164.
Flonneau M., 2008, Les cultures du volant XXe-XXIe siècles, Paris : Autrement.
Jacobs J., 1961, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, New York: Vintage.
Motte-Baumvol B., 2007, Les populations périurbaines face à l’automobile en grande couronne francilienne, Norois, vol. 4, n° 205, p. 53-66.
Orfeuil J.-P., 2008, Une approche laïque de la mobilité, Paris, Descartes & Cie.
Reigner H., Hernandez F., Brenac T., 2009, Circuler dans la ville sûre et durable : des politiques publiques contemporaines ambiguës, consensuelles et insoutenables, Métropoles [En ligne], 5 | 2009, mis en ligne le 06 avril 2009, consulté le 19 avril 2018.
Subjects
- Urban studies (Main category)
- Society > Geography > Urban geography
- Society > Sociology > Sociology of consumption
- Society > Sociology > Urban sociology
Date(s)
- Saturday, December 15, 2018
Attached files
Contact(s)
- Gaele Lesteven
courriel : gaele [dot] lesteven [at] enpc [dot] fr - Sylvanie Godillon
courriel : sylvanie [dot] godillon [at] gmail [dot] com
Reference Urls
Information source
- Aurélie BUR
courriel : aurelie [dot] bur [at] enpc [dot] fr
License
This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.
To cite this announcement
« The Death and Life of Car Mobilities? », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on Tuesday, October 23, 2018, https://doi.org/10.58079/111j