Who are you calling sub/urban? Socio-spatial inequality and mobility in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area

Abstract

This article addresses the socio-territorial heterogeneity of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (LMA) and its relationship with different types of mobility. We first use the 2011 Census to interpret the socio-demographic diversity of the LMA. We employ multivariate analysis to identify differentiating dimensions that distinguish between metropolitan parishes and use them to define groups. We then describe the mobility patterns of employees and students by constructing another typology of parishes (cluster analysis). Finally, we cross-reference the two typologies – socio-territorial and mobility – to show how space and society interact in the production of mobility in the LMA. The different patterns of mobility in the LMA are considered both a result and a reproduction factor of inequality in access to the metropolitan space.

‘Unequal Mobilities’ in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area: Daily Travel Choices and Private Car Use

“…The latter's distribution was based on a territorial typology that was created in the meantime (Santos, 2016).…”

“…In this respect it is important to note authors such as Goran Therborn (2006), Richard Willkinson and Kate Pickett (2009), among others, who propose a multidimensional interpretation of the various phenomena linked to inequality, which should be studied on the basis of the relationship between different variables (Carmo, Rio & Medgyesi, 2018). Recent analyses have placed particular emphasis on the spatial reproduction of income inequalities (Souche, Mercier, & Ovtracht, 2015;Santos, 2016).…”

“…Such movements in turn have economic consequences for city centres -again, not just in Lisbon -where the decline of retail outlets and services is a reality. However, more recently there has been a renewal of the centre of Lisbon, with variations in the population of different parts of the Lisbon municipality, and in particular that of some central parishes, which are to some extent reversing the loss of previous decades (Santos, 2016;INE, 2014). Also, in the AML there is still a major differential in the population's level of qualification.…”

“…Secondly, our goal is to determine the extent to which car use is defined by a relationship with social inequalities, considering the variables mentioned. In a context in which private transport use in the AML has continually increased over the last twenty years, we can see that regular car use is still relatively limited to a certain social groups (INE, 2003;Santos, 2016). Our idea is not to push the idea that private transport is better and more suitable than other forms, or that every social group should have access to this type of transport under the same conditions.…”

Reduction of social and economic asymmetry of territories in new economic conditions

“…An analysis of the Brazilian policy in the field of health care, under which municipalities are responsible for rendering servi ces, has revealed that there exists a stra tegy relevant to the use of funds from local taking into account the population and the regional location of the municipalities. S. Santos (2016) considers the social and spatial heterogeneity of Lisbon Metropolitan Area with regard to various types of mobility, which are considered to be a result and a factor of the reproduction of inequality in access to urban agglomeration space [11].…”