Metropolitics

Post-Covid Mobilities: A Greener World for Tomorrow?

2026-01-13T06:00:00Z

Against the backdrop of the growing climate emergency, Covid-19 radically altered the way mobility is organized. But have the adaptations observed during the pandemic proved to be sustainable? In this series of articles, Metropolitics and the Mobile Lives Forum have joined forces to investigate our changing mobility habits.
---- ▼ Jump to the list of articles in this series ▼ Over the past 20 years, public policies have set ambitious targets to reduce carbon emissions related to mobility,

- Series / Covid-19, public policy, mobility, practices, ecological transition, climate change, lifestyles

Urban Public Transit: A Choice Between Two Models

Arnaud Passalacqua & Philippe Poinsot & translated by Oliver Waine — 2025-12-02T06:00:00Z

Public transportation has a decisive role to play in any meaningful ecological transition. And yet key players in the sector continue to prioritize technical innovations that consume huge quantities of resources. Arnaud Passalacqua and Philippe Poinsot re‑examine past experiences in France in order to identify solutions that are more technically modest and available in the shorter term.
Urban public transportation is considered an important tool for public policies aimed at promoting a

- Essays / funding, innovation, mass transit, mobility, model, public transportation, resources, technical innovation, transport, urban technical networks

Can Universities Learn to Leave Behind Air Travel?

Tamara Ben Ari & Parke Wilde — 2024-10-22T05:00:00Z

At a time when global research is showing that aviation is a carbon-intensive form of transport whose growth absolutely must be stopped, shouldn't universities be the first to set an example? But can researchers, especially the youngest ones, do without these trips for their careers? How can researchers continue to work together, and what criteria should govern their behaviour?
Interview conducted by Thomas Évariste (for the Mobile Lives Forum), and Jean-Baptiste Frétigny, Maxime Huré and

- Interviews / aviation, mobility, university, Covid-19, climate change, research

Migration and Inequalities: The Importance of Social Class

2021-11-19T06:00:00Z

Since the 1990s, Anne-Catherine Wagner's research has focused on migrants from the most affluent classes in society. In this interview, she returns to the notion of international capital, which she used in her work to shed light on inequalities relating to mobility, particularly in her pioneering survey of “expat” executives in France.
Where does your interest in upper-class migration come from, and what do you see as the contribution made by work on this subject?
When I began my PhD

- Interviews / mobility, expatriation, globalization, social class, upper classes, migrants, immigration, migration, school, education, inequalities

Made in China, Sold in West Africa

Anne Bouhali & Nora Mareï & Mamadou Dimé & translated by Oliver Waine — 2019-05-31T05:00:00Z

From a small border post between Senegal and Mauritania, Anne Bouahli, Nora Mareï and Mamadou Dimé follow the journey of goods from Europe and China, as well as locally produced merchandise, with a view to examining and analyzing the different forms that globalization is taking in these little-studied areas.
Along the Tangier–Nouakchott–Dakar coastal corridor, the Rosso crossing on the Senegal River is both a border and a discontinuity in terms of transit. As the missing link in the

- From the Field / commerce, borders, mobility, globalization, Africa, West Africa, China, Morocco, Mauritania, Global South, Senegal

Private Infrastructure and Urban Government: How Vélib' Veered Off Course in Paris

Maxime Huré & translated by Oliver Waine — 2019-05-17T05:00:00Z

When the city of Paris entrusted its decade-old bike-share service, Vélib', to a new provider in January 2018, multiple problems ensued. Maxime Huré looks back on the opportunities and pitfalls presented by the changes of scale and operator that this switchover entailed, and sheds light on public authorities' mistakes, misgivings, and above all their growing dependence on large, globalized firms.
The Vélib' bicycle-sharing system, launched in 2007 in partnership with French

- Debates / bicycles, mobility, transport, public transportation, self-service, urban public service, Île-de-France, Paris region, Greater Paris, Paris, privatization, public–private partnership, municipal, urban services, urban technical networks, active mobility, Vélib', bicycle-sharing, cycling

Dunkirk as a New “Laboratory” for Free Transit

Henri Briche & Maxime Huré & translated by Oliver Waine — 2018-06-29T05:00:00Z

From September 2018, the public transport network in Dunkirk, France, will be free of charge for all users. Henri Briche and Maxime Huré's research into the zero-fare system already in place in the city at weekends affirms the feasibility of a public policy that encourages urban development and benefits working-class populations – but is often decried as being unrealistic and costly. How was this policy forged locally, and what is the current state of the art in fare-free transit in France and

- From the Field / France, public transportation, United States, mobility, transport, free, mass transit, rapid transit, bus, transport policy, Dunkerque, Hauts-de-France, Nord–Pas-de-Calais, Dunkirk, Northern France, fares

A flat-rate travel card for the Paris region: revolution or illusion?

Marie-Hélène Massot & translated by Oliver Waine — 2015-11-06T06:00:00Z

Fare “dezoning” in the Paris region – a key reform to mark the end of Jean-Paul Huchon's term as leader of Île‑de‑France regional council – came into force in September 2015. Marie-Hélène Massot takes a look at the origins of this measure and questions its relevance and its long-term sustainability.
Farewell, fare zones! For every one of the 3.8 million holders of weekly, monthly and annual travel cards in the Paris region – whether they live in Paris proper or the farthest-flung suburb – a

- Debates / Île-de-France, public transportation, mobility, transport, Greater Paris, mass transit, rapid transit, transport policy

Could harmonised working times spell an end to the rush hour?

Emmanuel Munch & translated by Oliver Waine — 2014-02-12T05:50:00Z

Efforts to coordinate working hours across urban territories have increased in recent years. By exploring the “desynchronisation” of journeys, these experiments aim to reduce congestion at peak times at the lowest possible cost. Field trials, while promising on paper, have been confronted with a complex and changing reality, marked by increasingly individualised daily schedules.
The simultaneous nature of home-to-work mobility is the root cause of congestion in many transport networks,

- Essays / public transportation, well-being, mobility, transport, work, territorial development, businesses, time, mass transit

Château Rouge: a “Little Africa” in Paris?

Marie Chabrol & translated by Oliver Waine — 2013-05-22T04:55:00Z

The Château Rouge area of Paris is regarded as an “African neighbourhood”. But what is the reality behind this image? Marie Chabrol shows that it has less to do with residents' backgrounds than with the commercial uses of the area, which put this district at the heart of large-scale mobilities.
Paris, like any major metropolis, has different neighbourhoods whose images are built and rebuilt around business activities linked to immigration. The Château Rouge area – situated in the shadow of

- From the Field / immigration, public space, Paris region, Paris, mobility, retail, neighborhood, Goutte d'Or, Château Rouge, ethnic retail, user, use of space, centrality