Event Host/Institute: CERC in Migration and Integration
Event date and time (to and from): September 28-29, 2023
Event location/venue: Hybrid (in person at CERC Migration Office / online via Zoom)
Event type: Workshop
Link: https://www.torontomu.ca/cerc-migration/events/2023/09/future-human-mobility/

Description from host: Advances in transportation technology, urban design, and digital technologies have opened up possibilities for mobility scarcely imaginable fifty years ago. Air travel is widely accessible to a growing global middle-class, the wealthy can enjoy (brief) trips to outer space, and hyperloops are becoming a plausible option for future commuting, even as growing numbers of digital nomads live and work from anywhere. But at the same time, residents of burgeoning mega-cities choke on the fumes of perpetual vehicular gridlock, and the poorest billion people have mobility options no better than those of our ancestors. The future of mobility, and the effects mobility will have on the future wellbeing of people and the planet, are open questions of critical importance.

“Mobility” in its simplest term refers to movements – or potential for movement – of groups and individuals. The reasons why people move, and the distances and timeframes over which they move, range widely. New technologies provide opportunities to facilitate and expand voluntary mobility that has tremendous economic and social benefits (i.e. moving for work, pleasure or in pursuit of opportunity). However, government policies, macro-economic forces, and unexpected extreme events often constrain the mobility options of many. In too many countries, corruption, conflict and persecution cause involuntary displacement and growing refugee flows. Mobility is further affected by pandemics and the impacts of climate change.

These considerations inform the proposed workshop on the Future of Human Mobility.