Destabilising automobility? The emergent mobilities of generation Y.
This paper uses empirical material gathered with young adults in New Zealand to examine a potential sustainability transition-in-practice. It draws from two frameworks; the actor-centred Energy Cultures Framework to explore mobility behaviours, and the multi-level perspective (MLP) to situate behaviour change within the socio-technical transitions literature. The MLP has traditionally been used to analyse historical transitions (e.g. from the horse and cart to the motor vehicle), but in this paper, it is used to explore an on-going change trend; the emergent mobilities of young adults who appear to be aspiring for different types of mobility. A series of mobility trends are described, which emerged from a programme of qualitative interviews (n = 51). The material culture, norms and practices that constitute these trends are articulated. These are then considered through the lens of the MLP. The evidence points to emergent trends of multimodality that, if leveraged upon and supported, could contribute to a systemic sustainability transition.
Transport Studies Unit, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QY, UK. Debbie.hopkins@ouce.ox.ac.uk.
Debbie
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7778-8989
D
Hopkins
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D003469:Culture; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009520:New Zealand; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014186:Transportation / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014195:Travel; D055815:Young Adult
Automobility; Energy cultures framework; Generation Y; Millennial generation; Mobility trends; Multi-level perspective (MLP); Socio-technical transitions