Getting the Transport Right – for What? What Transport Policy Can Tell Us About the Construction of Sustainability
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Getting the transport right – for what? What transport policy can tell us about the construction of sustainability MATHILDE REHNLUND SÖDERTÖRN DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS Getting the transport right – for what? What transport policy can tell us about the construction of sustainability Mathilde Rehnlund Subject: Environmental Science Research Area: Environmental Studies School: Natural Sciences, Technology and Environmental Studies All material is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License Södertörns högskola (Södertörn University) The Library SE-141 89 Huddinge www.sh.se/publications © Mathilde Rehnlund Cover image: Leopold Rehnlund Magnevill, inspired by Robert Rauschenberg Mother of God (ca 1950). Map image: Ortofoto raster (c) Lantmäteriet Cover Layout: Jonathan Robson Graphic Form: Per Lindblom & Jonathan Robson Printed by Elanders, Stockholm 2019 Södertörn Doctoral Dissertations 166 ISSN 1652–7399 ISBN 978-91-88663-74-0 (print) ISBN 978-91-88663-75-7 (digital) To my children, two of Nature’s critical thinkers. “Get the transportation right. Then let things happen.” Sir Peter Hall (in Kunzig 2011). Abstract This thesis studies transport as a governing tool that shapes the physical en- vironment and human society, as well as having environmental impacts. The aim is to learn what policy for transport can say about what sustainability means and does. My focus is Stockholm municipal policy from 2007---2017, a period of sustainability concerns and large transport project agreements. Using the What’s the problem represented to be? approach (Bacchi 2009), I look at measures proposed for the ‘right’ transport of people and ask: what kind of ‘tool’ is transport produced to be, and how is sustainability con- structed? The transport system is one of the most visible parts of the built environ- ment and recognized for its negative impact on environmental and human health. As co-constitutive of social practices, transport is far from a mere technical issue. Despite this, transport policy studies are often technical in approach. Since policy is not a neutral response to pre-existing ‘problems’, I consider transport policy to be part of a creative process for the whole of society. A main contribution to the field of sustainable transport is a view of transport as a tool for governing and inherently political. Stockholm is frequently hailed as a ‘green’ city. I was interested to explore this ‘best case’ scenario and see what might consolidate the two seemingly opposing aims of greener transport and more car use. I find that Stockholm policy for transport is permeated with technological optimism, reliance on individual choices, and concern for economic growth. Policy measures con- struct transport as a tool to affirm the commuter paradigm and promote urban expansion. Attention to the sustainability of transport concentrates on emissions from transport work, which is to be addressed by individual consumption choices. Sustainability is associated with efficiency, technolo- gical innovation, and above all urbanity. The proposals paradoxically con- struct the subject as both co-responsible for problem and solution (the con- scious or irresponsible consumer), and as a cog in the wheel for economic growth (the commuting worker). This disregards both the homo ludens and the citizen: play and the political. These aspects become subordinated while policy enhances the role of work. Key words, related fields: problem representation, transport policy studies, policy discourse, sustainable transport studies, urban transport studies Contents List of Acronyms and Abbreviations ...................................................................................... 13 List of Figures ............................................................................................................................. 14 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................... 17 Foreword ..................................................................................................................................... 21 Part 1 Constructing the study ............................................................................................................. 23 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 25 1.1 A period of transport project packages ....................................................................... 27 1.2 Aim and research questions ......................................................................................... 28 1.3 The structure of the work ............................................................................................. 31 2. Background ............................................................................................................................ 33 2.1 Stockholm as a site of sustainable transport study .................................................... 33 2.2 Urban transport development in Stockholm ............................................................. 35 2.3 Stockholm transport system ......................................................................................... 40 3. Previous research into sustainable transport .................................................................... 41 3.1 Aspects of transport ....................................................................................................... 41 3.1.1 Definitions of sustainable transport .................................................................... 42 3.1.2 Objectives of sustainable transport ..................................................................... 43 3.1.3 Posing other kinds of transport questions ......................................................... 46 4. Theoretical and methodological considerations............................................................... 51 4.1 Selecting sources............................................................................................................. 53 4.1.1 Selecting the main policy documents ................................................................. 54 4.1.2 Policy documents used as reference points........................................................ 59 4.1.3 Selecting additional materials – articles, press releases, letters from readers ......................................................................................................... 62 4.2 Studying policy ............................................................................................................... 64 4.3 What’s the problem represented to be? ...................................................................... 67 4.3.1 Critique – an inquiry into the limits of a structure ........................................... 70 4.3.2 Policy as discourse – making and analysing meaning through actions and words ............................................................................................ 71 4.3.3 Six questions about problem representation ..................................................... 73 4.4 Applying the WPR framework ..................................................................................... 80 Part 2 Problem representation in Stockholm policy ........................................................................ 91 5. The ‘fix’ and the ‘problem’: measures for transport ......................................................... 95 5.1 The relative expected potential for greenhouse gas reductions ............................... 95 5.2 What the measures address ......................................................................................... 101 5.3 In what way should the ‘problem’ be ‘fixed’ by measures for non-motorized transport? ................................................................................................. 102 5.4 In what way should the ‘problem’ be ‘fixed’ by measures for public transport? . 105 5.5 In what way should the ‘problem’ be ‘fixed’ by measures for cars? ...................... 111 5.6 What do the measures work to ‘fix’? .......................................................................... 120 5.7 What is the problem represented to be? .................................................................... 122 6. The problem as emissions caused by ‘wrong’ technology ............................................. 127 6.1 Conceptual premises .................................................................................................... 128 6.1.1 ‘Smartness’ ............................................................................................................. 128 6.1.2 ‘Green’ versus fossil-fuel technology ................................................................. 131 6.2 A technical-rational understanding of the problem ................................................ 135 6.2.1 Discursive elements ............................................................................................. 136 6.2.2 The subject ............................................................................................................ 137 6.2.3 Lived effects ........................................................................................................... 138 7. The problem as wrong choices made by individual transport users ............................ 141 7.1 Conceptual premises .................................................................................................... 142 7.1.1 Choice