Interrogating transition imaginaries: mapping present futures of urban (auto)mobilities

Abstract

Given the contested nature of urban futures, we approach the term “transition” as a floating signifier to investigate imaginaries of transformation. Focusing on urban mobility transitions, we demonstrate the plurality of associations with a post-transition future. This perspective allows the identification of underlying tensions and incommensurabilities between competing visions of the future. Q method is applied to explore imagined mobility futures among professionals working on mobility and urban development in Hamburg. The results show that even among those directly engaged in mobility transitions in their day-to-day work, there are plural and often conflicting views on what such transitions can and should achieve. The research offers insights into the coordinating role of floating signifiers in processes of socio-technical change. While these signifiers perform an important coordinating function in the governance of socio-technical change, they are inherently susceptible to capture.