Fairness and the sufficiency turn in urban transport

This commentary considers the research and policy implications of applying the sufficiency principle to urban transport. It explores “enoughness” against a backdrop of increasing carbon emissions in the transport sector, inevitable ceilings for resource intense movement, and the essential requirement of providing access to opportunities in cities. Given the relative lack of progress, increasingly polarizing political debate and urgent requirement for change, this commentary advocates for a more direct and open engagement with a sufficiency turn in urban transport. Most importantly, fundamental questions about a fair distribution of remaining emissions and finite street space within the transport sector must be considered. This engagement can build on the emerging field of transport equity while joining up social justice perspectives of the “here and now” with sustainability justice recognising global society, future generations, and nature. While acknowledging the political risks of embracing sufficiency in urban transport, this commentary builds on this rationale and directly engages with the idea of establishing budgets for transport-related carbon emissions and space consumption. It encourages further exploration and presents critical questions for future research and policy practice based on Martens et al.’s (Martens et al., 2019) three transport equity components of considering mobility benefits and burdens, the disaggregation of social groups, and determining the distribution principle.