Reconfiguring Urban Mobilities across the Global South

Convenors: Allen Xiao (National University of Singapore); Ding Fei (Cornell University)

In the aftermath of the global pandemic, cities worldwide have experienced significant shifts in everyday mobilities, particularly concerning emerging trends of technological innovation, energy transition, and infrastructure development. These dynamics, however, have manifested differently in the Global South, influenced by distinct political, economic, and social systems. With urban (im)mobility and inequality tied up with evolving urban, regional, and global contexts, existing theoretical and conceptual frameworks—such as those of formality vs. informality, human vs. more-than-human experiences, and material vs. social infrastructures—might be inadequate in explaining the multifaceted challenges and opportunities in the variegated and constantly shifting mobility landscapes. Therefore, there is a pressing need for theoretical, methodological, and empirical interventions that delve into urban mobilities in the Global South. With this backdrop, we invite discussions and inquiries centered on, but not confined to, the following questions:

• How should the prevailing theoretical constructs of urban mobilities be re-evaluated or expanded in light of the distinct challenges and opportunities in the Global South? • To what extent can urban mobilities offer a lens to (re)engage with comparative urbanism? • Are there methodological commonalities or divergences when studying urban mobilities across different cities or regions in the Global South? • What are the new empirics that can catalyze a deeper understanding or reimagining of urban mobilities in the Global South? • In what ways are the burgeoning transnational flows of capital, policy frameworks, and people shaping the dynamics of urban mobility? • How are new urban infrastructure projects and planning initiatives recalibrating the patterns and paradigms of mobilities? • In the wake of the post-pandemic era, how have perceptions, realities, and challenges of mobilities and immobilities been reshaped? • How do urban mobilities intersect with economic opportunities, entrepreneurial ventures or other socio-political initiatives? • How are urban mobilities shaping, and being shaped by sociocultural values, norms and aspirations across intersectional axes of identities?

Mobility

For the Mobile Lives Forum, mobility is understood as the process of how individuals travel across distances in order to deploy through time and space the activities that make up their lifestyles. These travel practices are embedded in socio-technical systems, produced by transport and communication industries and techniques, and by normative discourses on these practices, with considerable social, environmental and spatial impacts.

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We anticipate contributions that address these queries and more, aiming to foster a richer, more encompassing conversation on urban mobilities in the Global South. Please send a title, an abstract (250 words), and a short bio to Allen Xiao (allenxh@nus.edu.sg) and Ding Fei (dingfei@cornell.edu).