Mobility Transition Research Articles

NCF: A Neural Context Fusion Approach to Raw Mobility Annotation

Understanding human mobility patterns at the point-of-interest (POI) scale plays an important role in enhancing business intelligence in mobile environments. While large efforts have been made in this direction, most studies simply utilize POI check-ins to mine the concerned mobility patterns, the effectiveness of which is usually hindered due to data sparsity. To obtain better POI-based human mobility for mining, in this paper, we strive to directly annotate the POIs associated with raw user-generated mobility records. We propose a neural context fusion approach which integrates various context factors in people's POI-visiting behaviors. Our approach evaluates the preference and transition factors via representation learning. Notably, we incorporate an attention mechanism to deal with the randomized transitions in raw mobility. The domain knowledge factors, i.e. distance, time and popularity, remain effective and our approach further includes them from a data-driven perspective. Factors are automatically fused with a feed-forward neural network. Furthermore, we exploit a multi-head architecture to enhance the model expressiveness. Using two real-life data sets, we conduct extensive experiments and find that our approach consistently outperforms the state-of-the-art baselines by at least 32% in accuracy. Besides, we demonstrate the utility of the obtained POI-based human mobility with a POI recommendation example.

THEORETICAL ANALYSIS OF FACTORS DETERMINING LABOR MIGRATION

Mechanical movements of the population in the form of migrations constantly accompanied the development of mankind. In this regard, scientists at different times were interested in the reasons that can cause migration waves and, accordingly, ways to manage this phenomenon at the state level. This article is devoted to the study of basic scientific approaches and economic theories on the selection of factors that cause migration in general and labor migration in particular. To accomplish the task, the author analyzes the main generally accepted economic theories, in particular: mercantilism, classical economic theory, marxism, neoclassical theory, keynesianism, monetarism and more. In addition, the selection of factors that provoke migration in the theories of socio-economic orientation as a theory of human capital and social networks, structural-historical approach was considered. The next step the author explored a more specific economic direction - migration theories (classical theory of E. Ravenstein, the theory of pull-push factors E. Lee, a new economic theory of labor migration, dual theory of labor market, the theory of relative differences, the theory of world systems, the concept of mobile transition , synthetic theory of international migration, etc.). Based on the theoretical analysis, it can be argued that the factors that cause migration can be classified on various grounds. The most characteristic of these are the selection of objective and subjective reasons; controlled, partially and uncontrolled; micro-, macro-level; social and natural nature; economic, social, political, ethnic, psychological, pedagogical nature, etc. The conducted research makes a thorough theoretical basis for further work in this direction.

A Socio-technical Transition of Sustainable Lithium Industry in Latin America

To support a sustainable mobility transition and zero-carbon economy globally, important efforts are currently being made towards the use of sustainable transport, such as electric vehicles. In this context, the role of lithium is crucial for the manufacturing of electric vehicles powered by lithium-ion batteries. However, more than half of the global lithium reserves are located in the three Latin American countries comprising the so-called Lithium Triangle – namely, Argentina, Bolivia and Chile. Each of these countries has a different national lithium regime and national policy to support the lithium industry in the processing and export of this natural resource. This paper analyses the potential of socio-technical transition theory for building a sustainable global lithium industry, with emphasis on Argentina, Bolivia and Chile. We adopt a multilevel perspective to explore the major mining policies and national lithium arrangements, industry challenges and future scenarios among major industry and public actors in these countries.

Bike mobilities, democratic revival and the local fix

This article explores the local political strategies associated with the implementation of sustainable bike policies in southern European cities. It combines geographical concepts and methods , on the one hand, and sustainable policy studies on the other hand, with the aim of highlighting the specificities of the Mediterranean political context of mobility transition. Using Valencia as a case study, it shows that tactical urbanism is being used to put sustainable mobilities on the local agenda. This justifies and embodies a change in municipal policy and politics after a decade of crisis. Sustainable mobility projects materialise and spatialise, in various ways, democratic values within public space. The article therefore studies the strategies employed to mark the urban territory with green mobility infrastructures (part 1); it reveals the construction of a discursive space that polarises local debates (part 2); it describes the symbolic reintegration of Valencia into a network of model cities (part 3). Such a strategy does not create an effective Mediterranean model of the cycle-friendly city, because it does not modify the structural organisation of space or the social representations that underpin current mobility practices (part 4).

Defenders of Diesel: Anti-decarbonisation efforts and the pro-diesel protest movement in Germany

While Germany is striving to move away from internal combustion engines towards alternative propulsion systems in the wake of the “Verkehrswende” (sustainable mobility transition), a diametrical protest movement has been rising since the beginning of 2019. “Pro-diesel protesters” are demonstrating against impending diesel driving bans and expressing doubts on threshold values and nitric oxide (NOx) measurements in the affected cities. In this paper, we describe the pro-diesel protest movement in Germany against the background of the diesel crisis. To assess the social embedding of the pro-diesel protest movement, we report on the findings of an empirical survey with 926 German drivers. Empirical data shows that German diesel drivers do not have a specific profile or “DNA”, as they do not differ from gasoline drivers in their perceptions of alternative fuels. The analysis of the pro-diesel protest phenomenon, its manifestations and argumentation lines reveals a multifactorial bundle of causes, and it is - at least at the current time - temporally, locally and thematically confined. However, a considerable anti-decarbonization protest potential can be expected from upcoming far-reaching climate-protecting measures (e.g., gasoline driving bans, CO2 taxation) affecting the entire German population. Implications and research needs for a socially acceptable implementation and communication of sustainable transitions are derived.

‘We are not free here…’ – Palestinian IT students’ (im)mobile transition from university to employment or further education

ABSTRACTThe Palestinian information technology (IT) sector is growing. Meanwhile, an ongoing out-migration of IT professionals and graduates is taking place. Drawing on group, pair and individual interviews, as well as fieldwork observations, this paper investigates highly skilled IT students’ intentions to stay in or to leave the West Bank. In particular, it examines their transition from university to employment or further education, including professional opportunities and factors affecting migratory and stay decisions. This paper shows how physical, legal, bureaucratic, professional, educational, cultural and personal factors shape professional plans and career trajectories. Particular attention is paid to the Israeli occupation and gender expectations. The students’ mobility is facilitated by completed degrees and diplomas, acquired skills and scholarships, all of which are potential tools to overcome restrictions. However, this study reveals a clash between aspirations and reality, which often results in limited freedoms. We argue that a student’s relative (un)freedom contributes to (im)mobile transitions from university to employment or further education, where migration could be a way to obtain freedoms or to escape the lack thereof.

The decarbonisation divide: Contextualizing landscapes of low-carbon exploitation and toxicity in Africa

Much academic research on low-carbon transitions focuses on the diffusion or use of innovations such as electric vehicles or solar panels, but overlooks or obscures downstream and upstream processes, such as mining or waste flows. Yet it is at these two extremes where emerging low-carbon transitions in mobility and electricity are effectively implicated in toxic pollution, biodiversity loss, exacerbation of gender inequality, exploitation of child labor, and the subjugation of ethnic minorities. We conceptualize these processes as part of an emerging “decarbonisation divide.” To illustrate this divide with clear insights for political ecology, sustainability transitions, and energy justice research, this study draws from extensive fieldwork examining cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and the processing and recycling of electronic waste in Ghana. It utilizes original data from 34 semi-structured research interviews with experts and 69 community interviews with artisanal cobalt miners, e-waste scrapyard workers, and other stakeholders, as well as 50 site visits. These visits included 30 industrial and artisanal cobalt mines in the DRC, as well as associated infrastructure such as trading depots and processing centers, and 20 visits to the Agbogbloshie scrapyard and neighborhood alongside local waste collection sites, electrical repair shops, recycling centers, and community e-waste dumps in Ghana. The study proposes a concerted set of policy recommendations for how to better address issues of exploitation and toxicity, suggestions that go beyond the often-touted solutions of formalisation or financing. Ultimately, the study holds that we must all, as researchers, planners, and citizens, broaden the criteria and analytical parameters we use to evaluate the sustainability of low-carbon transitions.

Low Appetite for High Tech

In low-density urban areas, technologies are expected to play a significant role in tackling the ongoing mobility transition. A multidisciplinary research project focused on how a smart suburbs project, in Loos-en-Gohelle, France, could be promoted through resident participation. However, both the low level of smartphone ownership and the lack of appetite for technological tools discredited the hypothesis that technologies were essential to a faster mobility transition in this periurban area. This experience raises questions about the feasibility as well as the coherence of an approach that seeks to combine public participation as an ethical commitment to research, with smart territories as a scientific and political project. The inhabitants engaged in the project expressed the need and a certain readiness for change with respect to mobility within the municipal area of Loos-en-Gohelle, but were significantly indifferent to technological solutions.

Manipulation of Electronic and Magnetic Properties of 3d Transition Metal (Cr, Mn, Fe) Hexamers on Graphene with Vacancy Defects: Insights from First-Principles Theory

One of the possible ways to introduce magnetism in graphene is to trap highly mobile transition metal atoms at defect sites in graphene. In this paper, based on Born–Oppenheimer molecular dynamics ...

Da era das migrações ao declínio das migrações? A transição para a mobilidade revisitada

Resumo O principal objetivo deste texto é examinar e discutir as tendências atuais das migrações e da mobilidade internacional, bem como as principais teorias que têm sido desenvolvidas para as explicar. Para além de um estado da arte sumário, o texto procura entrever o que pode suceder no futuro face às mudanças globais, seja uma continuidade e aprofundamento das tendências atuais ou, pelo contrário, uma alteração do paradigma. Apesar de o cenário mais provável ser a continuação do aumento dos movimentos, tudo vai depender do confronto entre os fatores estruturais e a agência individual. Se os primeiros apresentam, hoje, alguns sinais contraditórios, a segunda revela as numerosas possibilidades de ação de migrantes e não migrantes. Existem vários futuros possíveis, sendo que um deles - a transição para a mobilidade - foi teorizado por Zelinsky em 1971.

Towards Carbon-Neutral Mobility in Finland: Mobility and Life Satisfaction in Day-to-Day Life

Finland, a prosperous Nordic country with a population of 5.5 million and significant distances between towns, though quite short distances traveled by car, is aiming to be a carbon-neutral society by 2035. Due to the level of urgency, a technological pathway with decarbonization of fuels and innovation only, is unlikely to be sufficient. Instead, a more systemic change based on a transformative pathway with demand-side management, i.e., measures based on behavioral change, is vital. In this research we were interested in learning how life satisfaction relates to the behavioral intentions of Finnish citizens, regarding a sustainable modal shift. We focused on walking, cycling, public transport and reduction in car use, e.g., a transition from fossil fuels to active mobility, from ownership to usership. Data were collected via a questionnaire in April 2017. The respondents (n = 2052) provided 2335 comments as to why they considered a specific sustainable modality as being important to them. We applied both qualitative and quantitative methods in order to establish how the mobility behavior of citizens manifests nationwide and the types of arguments that citizens put forward concerning their mobility intentions. The results indicate that there is a strong relationship between the respondents’ reduced use of private cars and their life satisfaction. There is a concern about sustainability and a willingness to change current mobility practices, as well as signs of altruism, while hedonic concerns such as health and personal finances dominate the responses. Furthermore, concerns about social injustice, such as a lack of public transport, are emerging themes, i.e., when enacting mobility transitions it is vital to focus on how to enable a meaningful life for all demographic groups using suitable mobility services.

Thinking in rural gap: mobility and social inequalities

The impact of the global financial crisis and the economic recession on Southern European countries has threatened the rural welfare of many regions. The loss by emigration of the young population, austerity policies, and the territorial concentration of essential services have led many of rural areas into a spiral of decline. The growth of regional disparities, even among rural areas, is confirmed by the European official reports. Depopulation and rural decline are highly associated with remoteness. Accessibility is one key issue to mitigating this erosion of socio-territorial cohesion; another is mobility, which is the usual way to confront the scarce opportunities and limited services in deeply rural territories. This paper pays attention to socio-territorial inequalities and considers as working hypothesis that social rights are differentiated by the habitat structure; as a result, territory determines different degrees of citizenship. Traditional perspectives focused on the access to productive resources and material opportunities as the source of disadvantages, but we suggest that a more comprehensive approach is needed to address the rural gap: the difference between living conditions and living expectations in rural areas in contrast with urban ones. We address two main processes involved on it. On the one hand, there are strong interconnections between physical and social mobility, such as commuting to distant labor markets and educative centers, which could increase the social mobility of rural youth. On the other hand, the maps of the provision of services, infrastructures networks and investments not only reshape the territories but also their sociological morphologies. Accessibility and mobility are strongly linked with rural well-being and social sustainability. We explore and illustrate these questions with examples from the Spanish case. The text is structured into four issues regarding the rural gap: the territorial imbalance and social cohesion, the demographic imbalance and rural welfare as the product of the inter-generational equilibrium, the rural disparities in accessibility and the challenges of mobility transition. Finally, we conclude with a discussion of the rural policies and governance required for achieving social and territorial balance.

The Association between Public Transportation and Social Isolation in Older Adults: A Scoping Review of the Literature.

Inadequate public transportation was recognized as a barrier to social participation, especially for older adults in rural communities and with mobility issues. Older adults will not benefit from opportunities to engage with their community and maintain social networks if they are unable to access them. The purpose of this scoping review was to make recommendations for further research and to summarize areas for improvement identified in the literature that will aid in the development of public transportation initiatives that can better address social isolation for older adults (≥ 55 years of age). Nineteen articles met the inclusion criteria, identifying themes of access to rural public transportation, issues with public transportation, and mobility. In practice, older adults need to prepare for driving cessation and mobility transitions; sound policy requires input to tailor transportation initiatives to an aging population, and future research should explore older adults' transportation needs and potential solutions in urban and rural communities.

Increasing Access to Transit: Localized Mobile Information

ABSTRACTWhile several studies note the challenges that people with disabilities face when using public transit, little work has investigated how mobile transit information apps affect accessibility. To address this gap, we recruited transit riders who are blind, who have low vision, who use mobility devices, and who have no disabilities. We asked them to use a transit information app, Tiramisu, for 21 days during their regular travel. We observed participants struggling with a number of barriers that had previously been reported. However, the localized transit information also removed barriers to travel; we observed participants engaging in less preplanning and more opportunistic travel. We also identified new opportunities to improve transit use through mobile information.

Bioarchaeology of Neolithic Çatalhöyük reveals fundamental transitions in health, mobility, and lifestyle in early farmers

The transition from a human diet based exclusively on wild plants and animals to one involving dependence on domesticated plants and animals beginning 10,000 to 11,000 y ago in Southwest Asia set into motion a series of profound health, lifestyle, social, and economic changes affecting human populations throughout most of the world. However, the social, cultural, behavioral, and other factors surrounding health and lifestyle associated with the foraging-to-farming transition are vague, owing to an incomplete or poorly understood contextual archaeological record of living conditions. Bioarchaeological investigation of the extraordinary record of human remains and their context from Neolithic Çatalhöyük (7100-5950 cal BCE), a massive archaeological site in south-central Anatolia (Turkey), provides important perspectives on population dynamics, health outcomes, behavioral adaptations, interpersonal conflict, and a record of community resilience over the life of this single early farming settlement having the attributes of a protocity. Study of Çatalhöyük human biology reveals increasing costs to members of the settlement, including elevated exposure to disease and labor demands in response to community dependence on and production of domesticated plant carbohydrates, growing population size and density fueled by elevated fertility, and increasing stresses due to heightened workload and greater mobility required for caprine herding and other resource acquisition activities over the nearly 12 centuries of settlement occupation. These changes in life conditions foreshadow developments that would take place worldwide over the millennia following the abandonment of Neolithic Çatalhöyük, including health challenges, adaptive patterns, physical activity, and emerging social behaviors involving interpersonal violence.

Smart mobility transition: a socio-technical analysis in the city of Curitiba

ABSTRACTCuritiba, located in the south of Brazil and recognized as a smart city, stands out for its pioneering project of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system. A smart city presupposes the existence of a smart mobility system. In this study, urban mobility was analysed based on the socio-technical transition of innovation and the multi-level perspective. From the history of urban planning in Curitiba we have developed a timeline of the initiatives considered as milestones towards the transition to smart mobility and proposed a reflection about socio-technical innovation approach applied to smart urban mobility. We perceive small incremental and continuous advances that can bring positive results over time. To observe how this transition process is taking place in practice, we presented an illustrative case that points to niche innovations that put pressure on the current socio-technical regime. Emerging niche technologies, along with other social and technological innovations, can lead to transition.Abbrevations: BRT - Bus Rapid Transit; MLP - Multi-level Perspective.

Model of nuclear energy valuation in the context of e-mobility

Abstract Due to the depletion of fossil fuels and the degradation of the ecological balance, the transition of mobility to new ways of propelling means of transportation is one of the toughest themes of sustainability, debated as such and by scientific research. At the same time technological research has already proposed several forms of vehicle powering and the manufacturers have even offered the market a significant number of electrically propelled vehicles - the option with the greatest technical and economic potential for everything that will mean future transportation of people and freight. Unfortunately, the development of electrical mobility to its quasi-state is dependent on increasing the capacity of supplying enough electricity from the power industry. The objective of our study is to develop a model for the utilization of nuclear energy in view of the global expansion of e-mobility applications. In the context of increased demand for electricity - due to new e-mobility technologies and applications, nuclear power can become the most efficient and constant form of electricity generation. The research methodology is based on qualitative analyzes of new e-mobility applications and their diversification tendencies, but also on quantitative analysis based on a specialized questionnaire. The novelty of the research finds its exemplification in attempts to explain the importance of nuclear energy in the new context of climate change and at the same time proposing a hypothesis regarding the possible maintenance and / or refurbishment of nuclear power plants.

Comfort First! Vehicle-Sharing Systems in Urban Residential Areas: The Importance for Everyday Mobility and Reduction of Car Use among Pilot Users

The aim of this study is to explore to what extent a vehicle-sharing system (VSS) that includes electric bicycles and cars, connected to a block of apartments in a middle-sized city in Sweden, can cater for individuals’ everyday mobility needs and reduce the need to own a car. The study connects to two different research areas: the usage of VSS and mobility transitions through pilot projects. Our results show a reluctance to voluntarily sacrifice comfort regarding everyday energy use. Owning and using a private car is to a high degree interpreted as convenient. The results from this study suggest that a VSS has the potential to satisfy mobility needs for people living in urban areas. However, in order for it to be successful, both in terms of satisfying mobility needs as well as being regarded as an attractive alternative to private car ownership, we argue that reconfiguration of modal choice and accessibility on different sociotechnical levels is a necessity. Interventions such as satisfactory public transport and better infrastructure for cycling and walking are suggested, as well as stricter parking regulations, banning cars in certain areas and making car use and ownership more expensive. In other words, the deployment of both soft and hard measures in combination is necessary.

Micro-Mobility in Flux

In this article we use new, unique data on population composition and socio-economic structure for the c. 670 municipalities of the Belgian provinces of East Flanders, West Flanders and Antwerp in 1796, 1815 and 1846, in order to gain insight into the changing patterns of local migration intensity from the late eighteenth to the mid-nineteenth century. Although so-called micro-mobility is often disregarded in migration studies, this article argues that a spatial and diachronic analysis of local migration rates provides insight into the dynamics of social and economic change in relation to migration behaviour. The data show that the proportion of non-native residents varied strongly in accordance with different regional economies at the end of the eighteenth century, but that spatial variation declined markedly as overall migration rates converged on a higher average level by the mid-nineteenth century – leading to a re-interpretation of the mobility transition hypothesis.

Envisioning future travel: Moving from high to low carbon systems

Comprehensive measures for reducing transport emissions were absent from the 2015 Paris Agreement yet without radical transformations in mobility systems and travel behaviour, transport emissions will continue to grow rapidly. This study investigated perceptions of travel in the year 2050 to see whether expectations of future travel align with lower carbon mobility systems. Data were collected through an international, online survey in 2016, targeting young adults with high levels of climate change concern. Thematic content analysis of responses (N = 401) revealed that 48% (n = 192) of participants described travel in 2050 as using low carbon mobility systems. This transition was predominantly attributed to improved technology (26%), rather than a shift in transportation mode (17%) or trip avoidance (12%). Expectations of future travel that could perpetuate high carbon mobility systems were mentioned by 53% (n = 212) of participants while only 23% (n = 94) mentioned factors that could reinforce low carbon mobility systems. These results show that even amongst people with high levels of concern about climate change, anticipated travel patterns have the potential to lock in high carbon transport and undermine progress. To achieve low carbon mobility transitions, strong international commitment must be supported by coordinated efforts of both governments and individuals.