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The Mobility Trap
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01 January 2027

This book confronts the persistent problem of transport exclusion in Global South cities, where urban poor populations—reliant almost entirely on walking—face arduous journeys and daily risks to their safety.
It reveals that the concerns of local populations are rarely at the forefront of transport policy decisions, sometimes resulting from a wish to streamline traffic flows but at other times to explicitly exclude the poor. Addressing the issue of neo-colonialism, the book shows how socially just planning can fulfil the mobility and accessibility needs of urban poor citizens.
'Transport exclusion in policy and planning has typically focused on Euro-American urban contexts. Lucas’s timely, critical case studies and empirical evidence shows how governments and multi-national institutions in Global South cities both produce and perpetuate transport exclusion and the resulting hardships that it creates.' Julian Agyeman, Tufts University
'A vital, visionary roadmap for equitable urban mobility, championing context-sensitive solutions that centre marginalized communities. Essential reading.' Carly Gilbert-Patrick, SLOCAT Partnership
Preface
Introduction
Part 1: What Is Going Wrong?
1. Getting There
2. Paying for It
3. Staying Alive
4. Homeward Bound
Part 2: Why Is It Happening?
5. African Appropriations (Nairobi)
6. Hangovers from the Haciendas (Quito)
7. Relics of the Raj (Dhaka)
8. Pilfering the Philippines (Manila)
Conclusion: What Can Be Done?