ABSTRACT
People's lives in cities are not stationary. Much of what we do in cities involves movement: taking the bus to work, driving to the shop, walking to a friend's house. Some of these movements are experienced as frustrating, for instance daily commutes that involve spending hours stuck in traffic jams or squeezed in overcrowded subway cars. Other movements – leisurely walks along a boulevard, skateboarding with friends in a park – are part of what makes city life enjoyable to many people. This chapter focuses on people's movements in and through cities. It discusses both physical mobility (how we get from point A to point B) and the ways that these movements are represented and made meaningful. The chapter also explores why individuals and groups of urban residents move in different ways. People are not always able to choose their mobilities freely: different types of physical movement are shaped by physical ability, financial resources and existing transport infrastructures. In addition, anthropological studies demonstrate that our movements through the city are influenced by our social networks, the mental maps we construct, and culturally informed beliefs about who should be moving where, how and with whom. By limiting access to urban spaces of work, education and leisure, restrictions to mobility can reinforce socio-economic inequalities.
