Inequitable mobilities: intersections of diversity with urban infrastructure influence mobility, health and wellbeing

ABSTRACT

Transport infrastructure critically influences how people live their lives, structuring mobility and mediating access to the resources central to health and wellbeing. While the links between infrastructure, mobility and wellbeing are well established, much less is known about how these relationships are contingent on socio-economic, cultural, and bodily diversity, and the characteristics of local ecologies. Here, we firstly ask, how does transport infrastructure shape mobility opportunities for people living in diverse circumstances? Secondly, what are the impacts of inequitable access to mobility for wellbeing? Drawing from research across four sites in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland), Aotearoa New Zealand, we consider the experiences of older- and disabled- or bodily-diverse people from varied ethnic groups living across a range of socio-economic circumstances. We use community-based participatory research methods, including ‘go-along’ interviews, focus groups and interactive workshops, to engage communities least heard at policy or strategic levels. Their experiences illustrate firstly, that urban infrastructure tends to further marginalise the already marginalised, and secondly, that people draw on different and unequal resources to negotiate infrastructural marginalisation, resulting in unequally patterned vulnerabilities and a system that entrenches the status quo. Our findings indicate the need to consider intersectionality in transport consultation and design.

KEYWORDS:

• Wellbeing
• health
• older people
• disability
• transport infrastructure

This article is related to:

Research for city practice

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. We use this term in line with the current consensus in the New Zealand Disability Strategy (Ministry of Social Development n.d.).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Health Research Council of New Zealand [16/289].

Notes on contributors

Julie Spray

Dr Julie Spray is an interdisciplinary medical anthropologist who brings cultural, structural, and biosocial perspectives to her research on wellbeing, health policy, and global health inequities. Drawing from ethnographic and visual methods, her work advocates for greater inclusion in health policy of those marginalised by dominant social structures and values, particularly children and racially or economically disadvantaged communities. She is author of the recent ethnographic publication The Children in Child Health: Negotiating Young Lives and Health in New Zealand (Rutgers, 2020). She is currently a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Division of Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis, USA.

Karen Witten

Professor Karen Witten is a geographer and psychologist with research interests in neighbourhood design and how housing, transport, amenity access and social environments influence the everyday mobility, health and wellbeing of residents. Her work is interdisciplinary and has a particular focus on the wellbeing of children and people with disabilities. She is a Professor of Public Health at the SHORE & Whariki Research Centre, Massey University, Auckland.

Janine Wiles

Associate Professor Janine Wiles is based at the Section of Social and Community Health, School of Population Health, The University of Auckland. She is a geographer and gerontologist, and her research encompasses three disciplinary areas: social/health geographies, critical social gerontologies, and community health; and links three themes: care, place, and ageing.

Anneka Anderson

Dr Anneka Anderson (Kāi Tahu), is a medical anthropologist who works as a Senior Lecturer in Te Kupenga Hauora Māori, the University of Auckland. Anneka’s research is centred around Māori experiences of inequities with a particular focus on whānau (family)-centred approaches to health. Anneka’s research operates within kaupapa Māori theoretical frameworks and qualitative, ethnographic and participatory methods. The focal points of her work have been around rheumatic fever, rheumatic heart disease and tuberculosis.

Dolly Paul

Mrs Dolly Paul (Tainui) is a rūruhi (respected matriarch) in her community and a kuia (respected cultural leader) for Te Kupenga Hauora Māori, where she is involved in core cultural initiatives and responsibilities for overseeing tikanga (cultural practices). Mrs Paul is also an indigenous healer and actively participates in medical teaching and research at the University of Auckland.

Julie Wade

Mrs Julie Wade (Tainui) is the community cultural liaison for Te Kupenga Hauora Māori, University of Auckland. Julie provides cultural support and guidance for medical education and research. Mrs Wade is a co-investigator in the Inclusive Streetscapes project alongside several kaupapa Māori research projects relating to antenatal care, tuberculosis and rheumatic fever.

Shanthi Ameratunga

Professor Shanthi Ameratunga is a paediatrician, public health physician and epidemiologist, with research interests in injury, disability, and environmental interventions (physical, social and health systems) addressing inequities in health and wellbeing. Her projects employ interdisciplinary approaches that aim to stimulate organisational changes and equity-focused policies. She is a professor of public health at the University of Auckland.