Outer suburbs, car dependence and residential choice in France, In: Planning After Petroleum: Preparing Cities for the Age Beyond Oil
Résumé
In a discussion of the findings of extensive research of everyday household practices, this chapter suggests effective policy responses to increasingly more expensive petrol prices. Our research involved interviews, observations and analyses of low-income households adapting their mobility practices and residential locations within highly car-dependent urban environments. The chapter examines two main types of practices of households in car-dependent outer suburbs: either households opt 'to stay', forgoing sustained mobility and a varied range of activities, or they choose 'to go' and relocate in areas where travel costs are less of a burden on their budgets. Our research analyzed statistics in the French National Census (FNC) 2008 and the Household Travel Survey (HTS) 2003 relating to the Paris region and qualitative analysis of two interview surveys conducted among sixty households in 2010 and 2011. This research was funded by the French Ministry of Sustainable Development and Transport.