Urban mobility injustice and imagined sociospatial differences in cities: Fid-Bau Portal

Urban mobility injustice and imagined sociospatial differences in cities

Kristensen, Nikolaj Grauslund / Lindberg, Malene Rudolf / Freudendal-Pedersen, Malene

Abstract Cities today are confronted with pressing issues of mobilities - not only concerning greener movement but also more just movement. This article explores the physical and imaginary aspects of urban mobility injustice and its (re)production through a study of two neighbourhoods in Copenhagen. It examines the interplay between city dwellers' experiences of (im)mobility and the social and spatial structure of neighbourhoods that shape and are simultaneously shaped by images of these places. Through interviews and focus groups, residents' mobility capacity and mobility providers' decision-making are scrutinised. The study demonstrates that residents' experiences of mobility vary remarkably between places in a relatively equal city, and this is intensified by territorial images of being deprived. The paper argues that paying attention to neighbourhoods' sociospatial composition in relation to their internal and external reputation helps to understand experiences of mobility injustice and how such injustice is reproduced in planning decisions.

Highlights • The paper examines residents’ experiences of (im)mobility in socioeconomically different neighbourhoods in Copenhagen. • Investigating experiences of mobility helps to understand sociospatial and imagined inequalities in cities. • The study demonstrates that residents’ experiences of mobility vary remarkably between places in a relatively equal city. • Uneven urban mobilities are related to the physical and imagined landscape and is perpetuated in planning decisions. • Knowledge about residents’ mobility in different socioeconomic contexts can inform more just sustainable planning.