Claus Lassen

Aeromobility and Work

In this paper, the hypothesis is that there is a connection between international aeromobility, knowledge organisations, and environmental impacts. The object is therefore to examine the driving forces, mechanisms, and patterns of meaning behind the increase in international long-distance work mobility. The author will draw on a case study which involves two Danish examples of ‘knowledge organisations’. He argues that it is necessary to rethink central concepts of travel, tourism, and working life, in order to understand and describe this kind of international mobility in these organisations. The boundary between work and tourism is not distinct and there is a very complex connection between travel, work, tourism, and play. He shows that actually, there is a strong ‘material’ impact from supposedly ‘immaterial’ organisations and this ‘materiality’ is particularly linked to the extension of forms of mobility. This has implications for understanding the possibilities of replacing physical work mobility with virtual mobility as a tool in order to ensure a more ‘sustainable transport system’ in the future.

Environmentalist in Business Class: An Analysis of Air Travel and Environmental Attitude

Abstract The strong growth in air travel raises the question of environmental awareness among air travellers. This article focuses on the exclusion of serious environmental problems of international air travel from the air travellers’ environmental consciousness. It approaches this question, in particular, by exploring international work‐related air travel in two Danish knowledge organizations. The article identifies that the knowledge workers, in general, consider themselves as environmentally aware. However, there is no connection between their environmental attitude and their actual travel behaviour. The article shows that a number of other rationalities seem to affect the travel behaviour more strongly than environmental attitude. Subsequently by reviewing other studies, the article describes how the exclusion of air travel from the environmental consciousness is not only the case among knowledge workers but also seems to be a general problem in relation to flying in modern societies. In the discussion and conclusion, the article therefore focuses on the possibility of creating a stronger link between air travel behaviour and environmental attitude.

NETWORKING, KNOWLEDGE ORGANIZATIONS AND AEROMOBILITY

Abstract. This article explores networking and travel in two international knowledge organizations located in Denmark. It shows that these knowledge organizations are organized in various ways through different types of network on different scales. Therefore the individual employees in both organizations are dependent on their ability to create and maintain relations within networks. The article argues that such networking activities cannot be understood separately from air travel. However, work and travel decisions are also highly individualized, meaning that a number of more individual and non‐work rationalities are also significant in employees deciding whether to travel or not. Therefore the article concludes that, in a number of social situations, individual rationalities function as a barrier to the increased use of video technology. It is therefore necessary to create new mechanisms to support the increased use of virtual communications in order to reduce the environmental impact of air travel in knowledge organizations.

Restricted Mobilities: Access to, and Activities in, Public and Private Spaces

Privatization of public spaces in the contemporary city has increased over the past few decades, but only a few studies have approached this trend from a mobility perspective. Therefore, this article seeks to make a contribution to the field by exploring two Australian examples of private spaces in the city, gated communities and shopping centres, through the ‘mobility’ lenses. The article illustrates how different mobility systems enable and/or restrict public access to private–public spaces, and it points out that proprietary communities create an unequal potential for human movement and access in the city. The main argument in the article is that many mobility systems enable specialization of places that are targeted at a special section of the population. This means that various forms of mobilities (e.g. automobility, virtual mobile communication technologies) not only create new opportunities for urban life, but also serve as one of the most critical components in the production of new exclusion and stratification. In conclusion, the article therefore suggests that future urban research and planning also need to apply the mobility perspective in order to understand the mechanisms between flows of movement and the understanding fixed spaces in the cities, and how different mobility systems play an important role in sustaining the exclusiveness that often characterizes private/public spaces. Likewise, from a mobility perspective, the specific consequences that the proprietary communities have on the surrounding communities seem to be an important further question for research and planning.

The dark side of aeromobilities: Unplanned airport planning in Mexico City

Abstract Land-use conflicts, noise and health problems, local air pollution, decreased urban quality and affected liveability are considered amongst the core impacts and consequences associated with global airports, all of which have largely been individually documented. Through a case study of Mexico City International Airport (MCIA), this article argues that a more integrated focus that brings such various issues and perspectives together is needed in order to widen the understanding of the existing relationship between socio-spatial and environmental effects, increased aeromobility, airport siting conflicts, airport urban surroundings and globalization. The present study of MCIA suggests that local players and airports are not just passively influenced by processes of globalization and aeromobilities, but also that such processes disentangle a wide array of socio-spatial and environmental consequences that depend on ad hoc local contexts. Hence, the article follows the argument that a much stronger focus on the planning process of airports is needed at local and regional scales, while a larger debate regarding the regulation of increased global aviation ought to be raised in national and international contexts.