Abstract:
Recent social research that links people s position in society to their
ability to access employment has shown the centrality of spatial mobility in the
(re-)production of patterns of (in)equality. This is particularly evident in
regions where economic activity is unevenly distributed and concentrated in an urban
centre and where daily travel patterns reflect a spatial segregation between
places of work and residential areas. This paper presents a spatial analysis of
accessibility to employment for Galway
City and its environs, a predominantly
rural region in the West of Ireland dominated by its urban centre. Travel-to-work data from the 2006
Census of Population of Ireland were used to present a comparison of
district-specific accessibility levels across three socio-economic groups.
Network analysis and Geographic Information System (GIS) visualisation tools
are used to map existing socio-spatial topographies of (in)accessibility. This
is done to test two contrasting sets of theoretical proposals in the social
science literature regarding the relationship between spatial mobility and
social status. Advocates of the first position conceptualise spatial mobility as
a form of capital that helps to maintain many existing social hierarchies. This
contrasts with the views of those who anticipate the dissolution of established
social boundaries ( fluidification ) as a result of increased spatial mobility of
people, goods and ideas. It is argued that these contrasting positions are highly
relevant to current transport policy debates, including discussions around the impacts
of recession-related cuts in transport infrastructure investment on patterns of
accessibility. In addition, they encourage reflection on the impacts of sustainable
transport initiatives on different social groups that are more or less
mobility-disadvantaged, a fact that has hitherto received little attention in
policy research and practice.
