Case Study 1 The low carbon mobilities of Chinese migrant communities in Sydney, Australia
DOI: 10.23912/978-1-910158-64-7-3280 | ISBN: 978-1-910158-64-7 |
Published: November 2016 | Component type: chapter |
Published in: Low Carbon Mobility Transitions | Parent DOI: 10.23912/978-1-910158-64-7-2847 |
Abstract
The need to transition to low-carbon mobilities is informed by evidence of extensive car dependence. This transition will require changes to places, technologies, policies, ideas and behaviours. But these changes will not hinge solely on innovation, or ‘new’ modes of transport. Low carbon mobilities are already being practised by some social groups – even in heavily car dependent places. This case study foregrounds one such group: Chinese migrants living in Sydney, Australia. Chinese migrants own fewer cars and use them less extensively than the broader Australian population. The Chinese migrants who were interviewed in this study intentionally oriented their lives around public transport nodes. They did so based on pre-migration transport norms – developed in contexts where public transport use remains ubiquitous – rather than out of environmental concern. Nonetheless, interviewees’ ongoing use of public transport post-migration has important environmental benefits. In this case study, attention is given to understanding pre-migration norms, embodied experiences and transport habits. It considers how low carbon transport habits can be sustained and lost between different places. Greater attentiveness to the transport practices of migrants is needed, as are resources to support and sustain their lower-carbon mobilities over the longer-term.
Sample content
Contributors
- Sophie-May Kerr, School of Geography and Sustainable Communities, University of Wollongong, Australia (Author)
- Natascha Klocker, School of Geography and Sustainable Communities, University of Wollongong, Australia (Author)
- Gordon Waitt, School of Geography and Sustainable Communities, University of Wollongong, Australia (Author)
For the source title:
- Debbie Hopkins, Transport Studies Unit, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, UK (Editor) http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7778-8989
- James Higham, Department of Tourism, University of Otago, NZ and University of Stavanger, Norway (Editor) http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1405-7035
Cite as
Kerr, Klocker & Waitt, 2016
Kerr, S., Klocker, N. & Waitt, G. (2016) "Case Study 1 The low carbon mobilities of Chinese migrant communities in Sydney, Australia" In: Hopkins, D. & Higham, J. (ed) . Oxford: Goodfellow Publishers http://dx.doi.org/10.23912/978-1-910158-64-7-3280
Save, bookmark or recommend
 Save on Mendeley |  Share on Twitter |  Share on LinkedIn |  Share on Facebook |
References
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2014). Motor Vehicle Census, Australia, 31 Jan 2014, cat.no. 9309.0, accessed 5 August 2014, http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/9309.0.
Bureau of Transport Statistics (2013). 201/12 Household Travel Survey, Summary Report 2013 Release, NSW Government, Sydney.
Bohon, S., Stamps, K. & Atiles, J. (2008). Transport and migrant adjustment in Georgia. Population Research and Policy Review 27, 273–291. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11113-008-9075-8
Chapman, L. (2007). Transport and climate change: a review, Journal of Transport Geography, 15, 354-367. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2006.11.008
Douma, F. (2004). Using ITS to better serve diverse populations. Report prepared for Minnesota Department of Transportation Research Services Section, Minnesota.
Evans, D. (2011). Thrifty, green or frugal: Reflections on sustainable consumption in a changing economic climate, Geoforum, 42 (5), 550-557. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2011.03.008
Golub, A., Marcantonio, R. & Sanchez, T. (2013). Race, space and struggles for mobility: Transportation impacts on African Americans in Oakland and the East Bay. Urban Geography 34, 699–728. https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2013.778598
Grengs, J. (2010). Job accessibility and the modal mismatch in Detroit, Journal of Transport Geography 18, 42–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2009.01.012
Hall, E., Birdwhistell, R., Bock, B., Bohannan, P., Diebold, A.R., Durbin, M., Edmonson, M., Fischer, J., Hymes, D., Kimball, S., Barre, W., Lynch, F., McClenllan, J., Marshall, D., Milner, G., Sarles, H., Trager, G. & Vayda, A. (1968). Proxemics, Current Anthropology, 9 (2/3), 83-108. https://doi.org/10.1086/200975
Hitchings, R., Collins, R. & Day R. (2015). Inadvertent environmentalism and the action-value opportunity: Reflections from studies at both ends of the generational spectrum, Local Environment, 20 (3), 369-385. https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2013.852524
Kerr, S., (2014). Exploring everyday cultures of transport in Chinese migrant households in Sydney, Honours thesis, University of Wollongong, Wollongong.
Klocker, N., Gibson, C. & Borger, E. (2012). Living together, but apart: Material geographies of everyday sustainability in extended family households, Environment and Planning A, 44 (9), 2240–2259. https://doi.org/10.1068/a44594
Klocker, N. & Head, L. (2013). Diversifying ethnicity in Australia's population and environment debates, Australian Geographer, 44 (1), 41-62. https://doi.org/10.1080/00049182.2013.765347
Lovejoy, K. & Handy, S. (2008). A case for measuring individuals' access to private-vehicle travel as a matter of degrees: Lessons from focus groups with Mexican immigrants in California. Transportation 35, 601–612. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11116-008-9169-5
Modarres, A. (2013). Commuting and energy consumption: Toward an equitable transportation policy. Journal of Transport Geography 33, 240–249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2013.09.005
Motavalli, J. (2001). Forward Drive: The Race to Build 'Clean' Cars for the Future, CA: Sierra Club Books, San Francisco.
Tal, G. & Handy, S. (2010). Travel behaviour of immigrants: An analysis of the 2001 National Household Transportation Survey. Transport Policy 17, 85–93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2009.11.003
Valenzuea, A., Schweitzer, L. & Robles, A. (2005). Camionetas: Informal travel among immigrants, Transportation Research Part A, 39 (10), 895-911. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2005.02.026
Waitt, G. & Harada, T. (2012). Driving, cities and changing climates, Urban Studies, 49 (15), 3307-3325. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098012443858
Waitt, G., Kerr, S. & Klocker, N. (2016). Gender, ethnicity and sustainable mobility: A governmentality analysis of migrant Chinese women's daily trips in Sydney, Applied Mobilities, 1 (1), 68-84. https://doi.org/10.1080/23800127.2016.1147751