Ways to go? (Un)sustainable school commuting in Majorna, Gothenburg city
Gothenburg city has bold ambitions of becoming carbon neutral. School commuting is one piece of the puzzle in reducing emissions. While the literature on school transportation is extensive, the issue of climate change has been overlooked. This article explores how parents in the district of Majorna...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2023-12-01
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Series: | International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development |
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19463138.2023.2184823 |
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author | Beniamin Knutsson Sofie Hellberg |
author_facet | Beniamin Knutsson Sofie Hellberg |
author_sort | Beniamin Knutsson |
collection | DOAJ |
description | Gothenburg city has bold ambitions of becoming carbon neutral. School commuting is one piece of the puzzle in reducing emissions. While the literature on school transportation is extensive, the issue of climate change has been overlooked. This article explores how parents in the district of Majorna understand mundane choices of school transportation in a context of increasing recognition of climate change. The article shows that school transport is a contentious issue, entangled with subjectivity, emotions, and notions of responsibility. The findings also highlight some complexities: (1) Although most parents are concerned with climate change it is not a significant factor in daily transportation. (2) There is a discourse in favour of active transportation where climate change is explicitly downplayed, on the other hand regular car use merges with deep climate concerns. (3) Informants’ anticipations of future urban traffic conflict with their hopes, yet it seems difficult to imagine something otherwise. |
first_indexed | 2024-03-11T22:56:13Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-09bf225af0f84ac8be7db2858c0b76e9 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 1946-3138 1946-3146 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-03-11T22:56:13Z |
publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
record_format | Article |
series | International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development |
spelling | doaj.art-09bf225af0f84ac8be7db2858c0b76e92023-09-21T15:28:41ZengTaylor & Francis GroupInternational Journal of Urban Sustainable Development1946-31381946-31462023-12-01151486210.1080/19463138.2023.21848232184823Ways to go? (Un)sustainable school commuting in Majorna, Gothenburg cityBeniamin Knutsson0Sofie Hellberg1University of GothenburgSchool of Global Studies, University of GothenburgGothenburg city has bold ambitions of becoming carbon neutral. School commuting is one piece of the puzzle in reducing emissions. While the literature on school transportation is extensive, the issue of climate change has been overlooked. This article explores how parents in the district of Majorna understand mundane choices of school transportation in a context of increasing recognition of climate change. The article shows that school transport is a contentious issue, entangled with subjectivity, emotions, and notions of responsibility. The findings also highlight some complexities: (1) Although most parents are concerned with climate change it is not a significant factor in daily transportation. (2) There is a discourse in favour of active transportation where climate change is explicitly downplayed, on the other hand regular car use merges with deep climate concerns. (3) Informants’ anticipations of future urban traffic conflict with their hopes, yet it seems difficult to imagine something otherwise.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19463138.2023.2184823urban climate policyurban sustainabilityclimate changeschool commutingactive transportationcar transportationautomobilitytrafficgothenburg |
spellingShingle | Beniamin Knutsson Sofie Hellberg Ways to go? (Un)sustainable school commuting in Majorna, Gothenburg city International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development urban climate policy urban sustainability climate change school commuting active transportation car transportation automobility traffic gothenburg |
title | Ways to go? (Un)sustainable school commuting in Majorna, Gothenburg city |
title_full | Ways to go? (Un)sustainable school commuting in Majorna, Gothenburg city |
title_fullStr | Ways to go? (Un)sustainable school commuting in Majorna, Gothenburg city |
title_full_unstemmed | Ways to go? (Un)sustainable school commuting in Majorna, Gothenburg city |
title_short | Ways to go? (Un)sustainable school commuting in Majorna, Gothenburg city |
title_sort | ways to go un sustainable school commuting in majorna gothenburg city |
topic | urban climate policy urban sustainability climate change school commuting active transportation car transportation automobility traffic gothenburg |
url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19463138.2023.2184823 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT beniaminknutsson waystogounsustainableschoolcommutinginmajornagothenburgcity AT sofiehellberg waystogounsustainableschoolcommutinginmajornagothenburgcity |