Unpacking the Smart Mobility Concept in the Dutch Context Based on a Text Mining Approach

Abstract

Existing mobility solutions are criticized for falling short of effectively addressing transport issues and sustainability challenges. In this light, smart mobility has received increasing attention. In the Netherlands, the smart mobility concept triggered various developments, leading to the uptake of initiatives for real-life experimentation, accompanied by an increase in media attention. While the concept is making its way through Dutch society, its meaning for practice remains unspecified. Therefore, this paper aims to unpack the meaning of the smart mobility concept, by analyzing Dutch news articles and initiatives' websites using text mining and qualitative content analysis. The analyses reveal some ambiguous meanings for the smart mobility concept, demonstrating on the one hand a focus on incremental technological innovations that bring forward car-based solutions for short-term fixes, while on the other hand promising to address car-related issues and fundamentally change the mobility system by taking long-term challenges into account. In general, smart mobility seems to be about optimizations and maintaining the status quo rather than challenging it, although there are a few deviating and more critical voices. The smart mobility concept mobilizes actors and resources, but considering the ambiguities, these developments should be critically evaluated when proposed as solutions to transport issues and sustainability challenges.Sustainability 2019, 11, 6583 2 of 24 program promoting innovation and real-life experimentation [14,20], and a smart mobility test center in the southern region of the country [21]. While at first the concept was used by specific circles within the traffic management field, the concept is now making its way through Dutch society as it is being introduced to the wider public. This uptake is a consequence of real-life experimentation and the ability to experience smart mobility possibilities in practice, accompanied by an increase in media attention. The number of news articles that mention the concept has been increasing since 2015. In addition, there is an increase in the number of initiatives that start to relate to smart mobility, thereby mobilizing the concept [14]. These initiatives range from traffic information services to multi-modal travel planners, and from communicating automated vehicles to car-sharing services.The smart mobility concept comes in many different forms and shapes, and while it increases the interest of the wider public and triggers the uptake of several initiatives, it is still unclear what the concept entails and how it relates to the sustainability challenges of the mobility system as its meaning for practice remains unspecified. Therefore, in this paper, we are interested in the following research question:What is the meaning of the smart mobility concept in the Dutch context? We address this question by unpacking smart mobility for the Dutch case using two sources: news articles and websites of the initiatives. First, we use Dutch news articles as a sou...

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