Return to search

Swedish Municipal Staff’s Conceptualization of Sustainable Mobilityin Rural Communities

To mitigate climate change, greenhouse gas emissions from mobility systems must be reduced. Measures toreduce greenhouse gas emissions from mobility systems tend to suggest implementations of mobility solutionsthat are optimally adapted to urban areas where demand is high. In rural areas, mobility options outside of theprivate car are scarce. This has led to a disproportionate relation between rural and urban opportunities fortransitioning to a sustainable mobility system. An additional problem is the v ery abstract conceptualization ofsustainable mobility—which can lead to misaligned climate policies and ambitions. Through a literature reviewand semi-structured interviews, this qualitative study examined how nine Swedish mid -sized municipalities’staff defined sustainable mobility for rural residents by having them describe problems related to sustainablemobility in their area, and measures to counter said problems. In doing so, they indirectly suggest what theyconsider a sustainable mobility system to be. The literature was primarily concerned with mobility solutions,rather than problems. The empirical results demonstrated that the problems described by the respondents werecaused by car dependence, feelings and ideas of injustice and unfairness, as well as authoritative and managerialcomplexities from the municipal side. Suggested and implemented measures to promote sustainable ruralmobility were often suited to densely populated areas, but the broader ambitions revealed that the investigatedmunicipalities aim to create behavior change in mobility patterns regarding shorter journeys (< 5 km) in urbanareas, and allowing car use in rural areas where options are few.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-530255
Date January 2024
CreatorsStridell, Rosanna
PublisherUppsala universitet, Institutionen för geovetenskaper
Source SetsDiVA Archive at Upsalla University
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeStudent thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text
Formatapplication/pdf
Rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
RelationExamensarbete vid Institutionen för geovetenskaper, 1650-6553 ; 2024/05, Examensarbete vid Institutionen för geovetenskaper, 1650-6553 ; 2024/05

Page generated in 0.0035 seconds