Urban Planet: Mobility in Cities of the Future

Urban growth seems to be unstoppable. It is calculated that, by 2050, 70% of the world’s population will be living in urban environments and, even today, some cities have more than twenty million inhabitants. Furthermore, contemporary society is characterised by a lifestyle notable for its intensive mobility. The megalopolis, increasing urban sprawl, tourism and migratory flows mobilise millions of people every day. Hence, access to transport is a key factor determining the quality of human life. Today, however, extensive use of mobility systems depending on fossil fuels has a huge impact on the environment and health, and presents major challenges in an evermore urbanised world. Is it possible to rethink urban growth and plan mobility with a view to achieving a healthier, more sustainable and socially just future?

John Urry, professor of Sociology at Lancaster University and distinguished international expert on mobility and tourism and their impact on lifestyles in the contemporary world, will join us in reflecting on these questions. This discussion is the opening event in an endeavour in which the scientific institutions ISGlobal (Barcelona Institute for Global Health), CREAL (Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology), B·Debate (International Center for Scientific Debate Barcelona) join with the CCCB in order to foster awareness of the importance of the effects of urban growth on the environment and human health.

John Urry, professor of Sociology at Lancaster University and co-author of Un mundo sin coches (Península, 2011), which is published in English as After the Car (Polity, 2009)

With the participation of: Salvador Rueda, director of the Urban Ecology Agency of Barcelona

Moderator: Mark Nieuwenhuijsen, coordinator for the CREAL (Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology) Air Pollution Programme