Understanding motorization through the lens of anthropology
Urban Mobility; Anthropology of Traffic; Ethnography of Urban Traffic; Car Culture; Motorization
The theme of the work is the anthropology of urban traffic, where, through the ethnographic method, the aim is to develop a more detailed field research in order to collect data, information, and key themes from documents, people, and key places. The goal is to raise key questions that can assist in the construction of better planning and public policies for public transportation and urban mobility. The idea is that these proposed policies can address current and real demands and also take into consideration qualitative variables such as mobility, accessibility, symbolic and cultural aspects of users, such as traffic culture and car culture, as well as regional factors in developing countries. Phenomena such as urban mobility and, especially, motorization, have been challenging the capacity for understanding and management. The research seeks anthropological insights not yet inserted into the discussion. Its objective is to map aspects such as car culture, mobility policy, the used vehicle market, urban development, and social relations. As a preparatory step for an anthropological research on mobility behaviors, a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) was conducted in three phases: planning, execution, and documentation. A total of 173 works were selected, with 81 related to the Anthropology of Urban Mobility, 63 on Mobility and Car Culture, and 29 on Circulation with Used Vehicles. In 2020, there was the highest number of publications (22), with a focus on Active Mobility and Urban Transportation. India and the USA had the most publications (12), and the journals Mobilities and Journal of Transport Geography were the ones that contributed the most publications (8). The qualification will present discussions and main ideas and practices of authors regarding the ethnography of urban mobility and motorization.