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Public Transport as Contested Public Space: Fare Policies and Daily Mobilities in Brussels and TallinnThis dissertation explores the social and political dimensions of public transport and examines its implications as a public space in cities such as Brussels and Tallinn. By examining the tensions between planned and lived public spaces through four case studies, this research sheds light on the structuring devices of mobility regimes and their impact on everyday mobilities.Using a variety of qualitative methods, including interviews with different passengers and stakeholders, observational research and travel diaries, this dissertation explores the role of fare policies on mobility behaviour, the transformative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on public transport atmospheres and behaviour, and the establishment of social rules of behaviour and their impact on deviant experiences. Through analyses of fare evasion in the Brussels metro and the effects of the free public transport policy in Tallinn, the author outlines the interplay between policy decisions, infrastructure and social control mechanisms. Incorporating feminist perspectives on the body and embodiment in urban spaces, the dissertation sets out at the micro level to explore users' everyday experiences and practices, to reveal how marginalised mobility needs intersect with societal norms and socio-cultural constructions of space, and to highlight the importance of practical knowledge and 'lived expertise' in understanding the realities of diverse urban citizens. This research contributes to the existing literature on urban theory and public transport by highlighting the political, social and communal functions of public transport. It makes empirical contributions to the literature on fare policy and fare evasion, and to frameworks of mobility justice, by examining urban inequalities manifested in public transport and identifying deviant practices as avenues for wider access and publicness. By illuminating, Le transport public en tant qu'espace public contesté :Politiques tarifaires et mobilités quotidiennes à Bruxelles et à TallinnCette thèse est née dans le but de comprendre ce qui constitue le "public" se trouvant à la fois dans les "transports publics" et dans l'"espace public". Ce n'est que récemment que les transports publics ont été inclus dans la littérature sur l'espace public qui, depuis des décennies, avait déjà discuté de leur rôle dans la vie sociale, culturelle, économique et politique des villes. En outre, la recherche sur les transports, qui s'est généralement concentrée sur une approche fonctionnaliste, ainsi que sur les besoins des navetteurs et les objectifs de planification urbaine axés sur la croissance, a négligé les différents besoins des usagers et la mobilité en tant que phénomène complexe au-delà du mouvement physique. Pour combler ces lacunes, je m'appuie sur la littérature des études sur la mobilité, de l'espace public et des approches féministes de la justice sociale. Ainsi, je souhaite étendre l'approche conventionnelle des transports publics à un éventail plus large d'expériences, en les examinant en tant qu'espace public à travers une étude empirique des expériences et des pratiques quotidiennes de mobilité au niveau individuel. La recherche a été menée à Tallinn (Estonie) et à Bruxelles (Belgique). Ces deux villes sont confrontées à des défis similaires, tels qu'un taux de motorisation élevé et un étalement urbain croissant, la diversité de la population et la ségrégation socio-spatiale. Les principales données pour Bruxelles sont 27 entretiens avec des passagers fraudeurs, des observations ethnographiques dans les stations de métro et sur les médias sociaux, ainsi qu'une enquête en ligne et 33 entretiens semi-structurés avec des passagers pendant la pandémie COVID-19. À Tallinn, 22 personnes ont été interrogées lors de deux entretiens et ont rempli un journal de voyage de sept jours.Les quatre publications présentées dans cette thèse a, Doctorat en Sciences, info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Transport and mobility systems need to be transformed to meet climate change goals and reduce negative environmental and social effects. Despite EU policies having targeted such problems for more than three decades, transitions have been slow and geographically uneven. For effective change to happen, transport and mobility research needs fresh perspectives and better integration of knowledge from the Social Sciences and Humanities. Based on a Horizon Scanning approach, which allowed for a great deal of openness and variety in scholarly viewpoints, this paper presents a novel research agenda consisting of 8 themes and 100 research questions that may contribute to achieving environmentally sustainable mobility transitions within Europe. This research agenda highlights the need to not only support technological solutions for low-carbon mobility, but the importance of transformative policies that include new processes of knowledge production, civic participation and epistemic justice. We contend that the agenda points to the need for further research on the dynamics of science-society interactions., QC 20230825

The goal of this special issue is to argue for decolonial perspectives on urban transport and to begin exploring them empirically. The point of departure for this endeavour is our observation that northern thinking continues to underpin transport geography, limiting the development of the academic field as well as opportunities for locally-derived innovation in diverse localities across the global south and north.

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed crucial tensions related to urban public infrastructure. Among those, questions regarding urban mobility, and public transport (PT) in particular, have received widespread attention in media and political debates. Stigmatisation, ridership slumps, funding problems and system closures have placed public transport systems in the centre of public debate about urban infrastructure. In this paper, we discuss three dimensions in which PT, as a site of urban armature, linking service provisions with individual needs, has been affected by COVID-19. First, we look at the user experience. Considering PT as public space shaped by encounters and emotions, we bring to the fore its contentious and complicated nature, affected by increasing or emerging anxieties and disturbances due to COVID-19. We further underline the inequity of transport provision and access: while some users have easily switched to alternative mobility options, others have remained dependent on PT, and had to navigate new and unevenly distributed challenges. Secondly, we refer to government responses, particularly in terms of funding arrangements, fare systems and controls, and labour organisation. Around the world, PT operators have faced unprecedented financial challenges, pressed to adapt their system to a, "new normality" while observing passenger flows decline drastically. As these problems have been particularly dire in transport networks that depend on a high share of fare-box revenue, a growing number of municipalities is considering a shift to fare-free PT. Thirdly, we discuss possible futures: While some commentators argue that PT faces an imminent decline due to mid-pandemic mobility needs and requirements, we argue that the role of urban public infrastructure is more vital than ever before, especially for underprivileged but recently acknowledged workers in the social and service sector. The paper brings together findings from an online study on mobility behaviour dur

Post-Socialist Urban Infrastructures critically elaborates on often forgotten, but some of the most essential, aspects of contemporary urban life, namely infrastructures, and links them to a discussion of post-socialist transformation. As the skeletons of cities, infrastructures capture the ways in which urban environments are assembled and urban lives unfold. Focusing on post-socialist cities, marked by neoliberalisation, polarisation and hybridity, this book offers new and enriching perspectives on urban infrastructures by centering on the often marginalised aspects of urban research - transport, green spaces, and water and heating provision. Featuring cases from West and East alike, the book covers examples from Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Germany, Russia, Georgia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Tajikistan, and India. It provides original insights into the infrastructural back end of post-socialist cities for scholars, planners and activists interested in urban geography, cultural and social anthropology, and urban studies.