When the Tramway Arrives in Lindholmen, Gothenburg - Perceived Accessibility and Social Inclusion in the City

Sammanfattning

In Gothenburg, a new tramway to Lindholmen has recently been introduced, while further expansions are plannedin the near future. Therefore, it is interesting to examine how this implementation has impacted perceivedaccessibility among tramway users, as a shift towards sustainable transport modes is necessary to achievesustainable accessibility. Furthermore, perceptions of accessibility may influence travel behaviour and transportmode choice. Planning practices and policy directions guide tramway development in Gothenburg; therefore,practitioners' understandings of accessibility and social inclusion are essential to understanding how accessibilityoutcomes may differ between socio-economic groups following the tramway implementation in Lindholmen.This study uses a mixed methods approach, where a survey is conducted to capture how perceived accessibilityis affected among different groups of tramway users, and interviews are conducted with practitioners, fromdifferent backgrounds, within the City of Gothenburg to capture their understandings of accessibility and socialinclusion in relation to the tramway expansion in Lindholmen and future expansions.Findings reveal an overall improvement in perceived accessibility among tramway users as a result of thetramway introduction, although it is unevenly distributed: tramway users who lost a direct connection to centralGothenburg as a result of its implementation are experiencing a deterioration in their accessibility. Interviewswith practitioners reveal multiple understandings of accessibility, as well as challenges in working towards socialsustainability in certain contexts, because current planning practices and problem representations are driven bythe availability of economic resources and travel demand. Social sustainability is still emphasised in their work,yet accessibility planning inevitably leads to trade-offs and tensions, with some experiencing an improvement intheir individual accessibility and others a deterioration, as indicated by survey results.