Urban Mobility, Social Inclusion and Participation: A Qualitative Study in Palermo, Italy
The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the connection between social inclusion and urban mobility, focusing on the role of sharing mobility and to what extent it might be a favourable tool for social inclusion, particularly for disadvantaged groups suc
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Abstract The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the connection between social inclusion and urban mobility, focusing on the role of sharing mobility and to what extent it might be a favourable tool for social inclusion, particularly for disadvantaged groups such as migrants. To our knowledge, whilst the literature has already examined the associations between migrants’ social inclusion and mobility, the role of sharing mobility in this process has not yet been widely analysed, especially in the Italian context. Hence, the present chapter addresses this knowledge gap. The rest of the chapter is organised as follows. First, we describe the relationships between mobility and social exclusion, then we consider the case of migrants as a category at risk of social exclusion. We illustrate the connection between sharing mobility and social inclusion using the key findings of a focus group study involving residents and migrants in the city of Palermo. Finally, we discuss the implications for the development of more inclusive sharing mobility services. Keywords Social inclusion · Sharing mobility · Immigration · Participation · Focus group
1 Mobility and Social Exclusion Mobility, conceptualised here as physical mobility involving corporeal movement, has an important role in all societies across the world and in different historical times because it enables people to access the necessary resources for surviving and thriving (Stanley and Stanley 2017). In the last few decades, rapid societal transformations have increased the importance of mobility, and the associated transport system enabling it, as a crucial element for accessing services and life opportunities, C. Inguglia (B) · M. Di Marco Department of Psychology, Educational Science and Human Movement, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy e-mail: [email protected] M. Ricci Centre for Transport and Society, University of the West of England Bristol, Bristol, UK © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 G. Smorto and I. Vinci (eds.), The Role of Sharing Mobility in Contemporary Cities, UNIPA Springer Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57725-4_4
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making it a key resource for social inclusion (Knowles 2006; Levinson 2010; Lucas 2012; Pereira et al. 2017). In order to understand the importance of physical mobility for social inclusion, which can be regarded as participation and integration (both actual and perceived) in the life of society as a whole, it is useful to start from the definition of social exclusion. Levitas et al. (2007) have conceptualised social exclusion in a broader way, going beyond the concept of material or economic poverty and referring instead to the lack or denial of goods, services, resources and essential rights that prevent an individual from participation in ordinary activities accessible to the majority of people in the community. Social exclusion has negative effects, both in collective and individual terms. On the one hand
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