Transport Inequality in Today’s Cities at the Intersection of Mobility and Inequality

Social inequality, defined as “unequal rewards and opportunities for different individuals within a group or groups within a society” is multi-dimensional, including legal status, opportunities and outcomes, and different sociological perspectives approach it differently (Scott, 2014, p. 352). Inequalities of access to opportunities and resources have deeper structural inequalities—social class, gender, locality, etc.—underneath (Hamnett, 2019). These structural inequalities are reproduced through social systems, such as education, across generations. One aspect of social inequality in today’s cities concerns transport inequality. This simply refers to the transport advantages of the rich compared with the poor (Gebresselassie and Sanchez, 2019). Mobility research is connected to social and environmental sustainability ideals. This line of research emphasizes the fact that marginal urban communities are disadvantaged in multiple ways: income, employment, health, education, environment, housing and mobility, such as reduced access to public transport. The transport inequality intersects with other forms of marginalization as well, based on gender, age, disability, and ethnicity. Yet for the mobile or kinetic elite (Andreotti, Le Gallès, and Moreno-Fuentes, 2013), all places and transport means are readily available. Furthermore, transport-related mega-projects accentuate the existing social inequalities of the neoliberal city. However, urban policy makers have begun to realize the importance of transport inequality and develop inclusive policies, such as “accessibility planning” in the UK (Lucas, 2012). Urban citizens are also forming mobility justice movements to protest against the increasing transport costs, as in Latin America (Díaz Pabón and Palacio Ludeña, 2021) and France. Hence, this paper will study the relationship between mobility and inequality.