Conclusions

This chapter summarises the main findings of the research. Furthermore, it highlights some of the questions that could be further explored. Concerning empirical results and approach, the cases analysed in this work show that catching mobility in its complex network of relations and simultaneity proved difficult when only using transport data as it is often overly static and based on statistical references such as administrative dimensions of space and population; such data does not always correspond to the actual conditions of mobile people and fails to highlight the dynamic created by mobility itself. Travelling alongside with mobile people, instead, it has been possible to cover hundreds of kilometres in the same day as well as to inhabit the small spaces of the train with them. This allows the researcher to: simultaneously take into account different spatial scales; consider all the spaces involved in a mobile lifestyle as spaces of mobility; highlight new uses and needs related to the space of transit and space on the move, and show that they are often also spaces for ‘dwelltime’ (Sheller and Urry, 2006: 220). In extending the definition of mobility spaces to all those spaces that can support a mobile lifestyle, this research has touched upon numerous questions that establish the need for a future research agenda regarding spaces of mobility, such as the management of administrative borders and ticket pricing, both of which have consequences on citizenship and rights, and the question relating to the management of private/public spaces. This last is particularly pertinent for the design of mobilities and cities as it allow us to intervene in spatial inequalities and spatial justice.