ABSTRACT
Before planning for life after petroleum, it is useful to examine some more nuanced but far-reaching effects of a fossil fuel society and the structures and habits to which it gives rise. This chapter approaches this problem from the perspective of the lives of children, specifically their mobility in post-industrial, highly urbanized societies. Much has been made of the costs borne by children in a world fueled by petroleum: international studies into patterns of decline in children’s active transport and independent movement indicate the negative influence of this decline on cognitive development (Joshi et al. 1999; Risotto and Tonucci 2002), emotional wellbeing (Hillman 1993), social participation (Groves 1997; Prezza et al. 2009) and physical health (Department of Health 2004).
