Mobilities design – towards a research agenda for applied mobilities research. Issue 1 (2nd January 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Jensen, Ole B.; Lanng, Ditte Bendix; Wind, Simon
• Is Part Of: Applied mobilities. Volume 1:Issue 1(2016)
• Page Start: 26
• Page End: 42
• Publication Date: 2016-01-02
• Subjects: Mobilites design -- mobilities -- design thinking; Transportation -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; Transportation -- Technological innovations -- Periodicals; Wireless communication systems -- Periodicals; Population geography -- Periodicals; Sustainability -- Periodicals; 303.4832
• DOI: 10.1080/23800127.2016.1147782
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2380-0127

Abstract

Abstract: In this paper, we identify the nexus between design (architecture, urban design, service design, etc.) and mobilities as a new and emerging research field. In this paper, we apply a "situational mobilities" perspective and take point of departure in the pragmatist question: "What design decisions and interventions affords this particular mobile situation?" The paper presents the contours of an emerging research agenda within mobilities research. The advent of "mobilities design" as an emerging research field points towards a critical interest in the material as well as practical consequences of contemporary sites of mobilities and technology. Furthermore, the paper argues that heightened material sensitivity with an acute focus on situations and the multi-sensorial dimensions of human mobilities is largely under-prioritised within much contemporary city planning and transport planning as well as policy-making. The paper proposes that increased understanding of the material affordances facilitated through design provides important insight to planning and policy-making that at times might be in risk of becoming too detached from the everyday life of the mobile subject within contemporary mobilities landscapes.