The Importance of Transport for Social Inclusion

Links between mobility, social exclusion and well being, and matters related thereto, have been an important focus of research, planning and policy thinking in the land use transport field for about the past two decades, in places such as the UK, Australia, South Africa, North America and parts of South America. This introductory paper to the journal volume on Regional and Urban Mobility: Contribution to Social Inclusion summarizes some of the key literature in the field during that period, illustrating how research sometimes takes a place-based approach and at other times focuses on groups of people likely to be at risk of mobility-related social exclusion. The ten articles in this journal volume explore aspects of these relationships, mainly through the lens of at risk groups, across a number of social-spatial settings. Articles draw on case studies from the Philippines, UK/Germany, UK/Colombia, Lisbon, Gilgat-Baltistan, Turkey and Japan, providing a broad set of contexts. The different language and frameworks used by researchers from different professional backgrounds, as illustrated in this volume, highlights some of the barriers that need to be confronted in progressing policy to improve the lot of people experiencing mobility-related social exclusion.