Mobility and its discontents in (sub)urban Australia

Australians are one of the most mobile nations on Earth: their spatial, residential and employment mobility is among the highest in the world. In an economically dynamic and successful nation, mobility and 'flexibility' are seen to be 'good for the (capitalist) economy', especially employment mobility, which is closely related to residential mobility. In terms of spatial mobility-travel, internal and international, as well as long stays overseas - Australians successfully beat the 'tyranny of distance'. On the individual level, intense mobility is usually seen as an advantage, privilege and a mark of success - a status symbol, although younger age groups and lower socio-economic groups can be involuntarily mobile due to casualisation of work and unstable housing. Also in more general terms, there are dark sides to intense mobility that rarely get a mention: economic dynamism driving mobility is in turn driven by a culture of excessive individualism and consumerism. Apart from well-known environmental woes associated with a hypermobile consumer society, this also leads to the erosion of community connectedness and social capital, and an increase in social inequality. This short paper looks at some root causes of Australian hypermobility and its social effects.