Discourses on sustainable urban mobility (TFL Society talk)

Join the TFL Society for a talk from the amazing Professor Robin Hickman!

In many areas of public policy, there seems to be much difficulty in transitioning towards new pathways for sustainability. Transport, for example, has a critical role in contributing to the public policy goals of climate change, social equity and well-being. Yet, in most cities, travel is leading to increased transport CO2 emissions, and mobility for higher income groups, but not necessarily others.

Transport planning is often understood as a technical exercise, but can also be viewed as a social construct and an exercise in discourse – where the discursive struggle leads to the resulting transport systems or projects. Transport reflects the value judgements of key actors in the process, resulting in what is selected and produced as a transport system, but also what is not selected and not produced. This session examines varied transport and urban planning case studies – from Plymouth, Singapore, Bogotá, London and Portland – considering how and why discursive concepts such as history, power, truth, ethics and subjectivity, can be utilised in problematising the current approaches to transport planning. From here, we can explore what needs to be done to more effectively progress towards sustainable urban mobility.

Professor Robin Hickman presents from his recent book – Discourses on sustainable urban mobility (UCL Press, 2025), available here: https://uclpress.co.uk/book/discourses-on-sustainable-urban-mobility/

Please do not hesitate to contact me (Danilo, Welfare Officer of UCL TFL Society) if you have any questions at all or if there is any way that the event can be more accessible and enjoyable to you!