Report by Marc von der Linde (Philosophy) and Marc Hertel (Geography)
In order to expand the common, sometimes worn-out discussion about our mobility of tomorrow, we turned to the method of science fiction thinking in this Q+ seminar. Science fiction is always based on the present as a surface for reflection and can thus be used to imagine or rethink futures of mobility. This method turns the systematic conception of new visions into a creative playground. We developed our mobility worlds of tomorrow in several successive group work phases, drafting them in bullet points as well as our own graphics, and contrasting models of mobility we consider probable with those we consider desirable in 25 years.
Lars Schmeink from the German Aerospace Center (DLR) led the workshop, supervised our drafts, and repeatedly drew attention to preconceived notions about mobility. It is often assumed that cities have roads, that mobility is provided, and that there is a general need for (individual) mobility. Our visions broke with some of these assumptions, including for example a disconnected city-capsule that functions self-sufficiently on different levels, or a closed community with collectively owned supply structures, in which no roads are built and paths are instead cleared by residents. Both show that futures of sustainable mobility probably require an open examination of “staying” and immobility as an active decision.
