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Please see the 2nd call for papers for this session at the RGS-IBG: Call for Papers: RGS-IBG Annual International Conference 2013, London 28-30 August 2013 Session title Mobility as Practice: new frontiers in geographical understandings of urban mobility Co-sponsored by the Urban Geography Research Group and the Transport Research Group Organisers: Mags Adams (University of Salford), Noel Cass (Lancaster University), James Faulconbridge (Lancaster University) Urban mobility is a significant factor in a range of debates, from those about low carbon futures, through understandings of aging populations and the design of the built environment, to the spatiality of social inequalities. The aim of this session is to encourage critical debate about ways in which theories of practice can be used to reconfigure and advance understandings of urban mobility. Such reconfiguration and advancing is important in the context of, amongst other things: the UKs ambitious targets for the reduction of green house gas emissions (from mobility as well as other sources); one-in-six people in the UK currently being aged 65 or over - a ratio predicted to rise to one-in-four by 2050 - with the resultant need to understand the implications of an increasingly mobile ageing population; and the fact that a quarter of Britain's families are without access to 'normal' mobility-related infrastructure including the car and internet, meaning that there is a pressing need to understand how such mobility inequalities impact on, and are influenced by, the use, experience and development of urban infrastructures. New frontiers in urban mobility research have begun to take a 'practice turn' whereby acts of mobility are being understood in relation to the elements that constitute and reconstitute them. Underlying such analysis, as Shove et al (2012) argue, is recognition that too often there has been research and policy that 'focuses on behaviour as a matter of individual choice ... overlook[ing] the extent to which the details of daily life are anchored in and constitutive of the changing contours of social practice.' In this session we are interested in exploring these 'details of daily life' and how they constitute mobility as practice for a range of sections of the urban population. Papers might address empirically and/or theoretically (but are not limited to) one of the following topics: * The ways in which urban mobility becomes embedded in everyday life * The characteristics of the urban mobility practice of different social groups (e.g. children, young adults, retirees etc) * Different modes of urban mobility and the connections of modes to particular practices * The role understandings of 'mobility as practice' has in unpacking everyday urban mobility at a variety of scales (from individuals, to households, communities or national populations) * The connections between urban mobility and policies and practices tied to, amongst other things, low carbon futures, ageing populations and social equity Format: We propose a paper session consisting of 3 full papers plus 4 'PechaKucha' (PechaKucha is of Japanese origin and involves giving 20 quick-fire slides of 20 secs each. This provides space for summaries of projects at various stages to be presented alongside formal papers). With questions each PechaKucha presentation will be allocated 10mins and each full paper will be allocated 20 mins). Please indicate on your proposal whether you prefer one or other of these formats but be aware that actual allocations will depend on numbers of submissions to the session. Proposals for papers, with a title, a short abstract of 250 words and your full contact details, should be sent to the co-organisers: Mags Adams ([log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>), Noel Cass ([log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>) and James Faulconbridge ([log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>), by Friday 1st February 2013 Dr Mags Adams Lecturer in Geography | Environment & Life Sciences Room 307, Peel Building, University of Salford, Salford, UK M5 4WT t: +44 (0) 161 295 4067 [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> | www.salford.ac.uk<http://www.salford.ac.uk/>