Suburban Daily Mobility – between Freedom and Sustainability

Kurzfassung

In Berlin, an increase of multi-modal mobility is observed based on urban lifestyles combined with the availability of alternatives to the private car such as public transport, bicycle rental systems or car sharing. To examine the influence of travel behaviour on the mitigation of climate change in developed countries, it is important to consider not only urban but also suburban areas since the suburban population in western countries has been growing over the last decades. Due to limited facilities of surrounding communities, daily car trips of suburbanites account for a substantial share of all-German traffic. Only if motives for suburban travel behaviour are known, changes in the perception of transport modes can be induced aiming at a more multi-modal mobility. Hence potential savings regarding energy consumption can be identified. Against this background the question arises if daily mobility of persons living in the suburban fringe of Berlin is influenced by urban "sustainable" trends or if suburban residents remain with their "traditional" mobility. Different assumptions exist: On the one hand they do stick to their cars which results from their chosen "suburban way of life" with the car as the ultimate symbol of freedom. This car-affinity is strengthened by the suburban built environment and infrastructure. Contrary to that new research shows that the dichotomy of place related urban and suburban lifestyles renders obsolete based on observed urban attitudes of suburban residents and vice versa. This presentation aims to address the question if suburban residents in the Berlin area tend to show rather urban than suburban mobility patterns. Special attention is given to underlying motivation which shows the awareness of risks of climate change by GHGE and the possibility to contribute to the mitigation by individual mobility behaviour. The knowledge of the specific reasons influencing suburban mobility will help to identify potentials to reduce the overall energy consumption. Analysis is based on a quantitative household survey (n = 1,135) that was carried out in 2007 by the Geographical Institute of Humboldt-University of Berlin. On base of this data, mobility patterns of the suburban residents can be shown. The survey was complemented by a sample of qualitative interviews (n = 20) in 2008. Through the analysis of interviews underlying motives and reasons for the discovered travel behaviour become clear. The majority of the surveyed residents had lived in Berlin before they moved to the suburbs in the mid-1990s. Therefore they were able to compare their former urban with their current suburban travel behaviour. This comparison provides an indication of the influence of urban respectively suburban lifestyles and built environment on mobility.