Operationalising Socio-spatial Justice as a Driver for Urban Transformation in Europe's Small and Peri-Urban Cities

Drawing on the analytical perspective that mobility is a lived and mediated experience shapedby power relations and visibility, this contribution situates communication, co-creation, and representation as integral to socio-spatial transformation.The Fair Mobility project (F-DUT-2022-0184), part of the Driving Urban Transitions (DUT) 15-Minute City (15mC) Transition Pathway, tackles a key challenge in Europe’s mobility and sustainability nexus: how to design and implement equitable, low-carbon mobility solutions in small cities,rural, and peri-urban areas where accessibility gaps reinforce gender, social, and economic inequalities. The project demonstrates that centering the empowerment and co-creation of mobility solutions with women and minoritized groups is fundamental to achieving both socio-spatial justice and climate goals.At the UERA Conference 2025, the Fair Mobility consortium—represented by the TechnologieCenter for Energy (TZE) and Urbasofia—introduced the project’s conceptual framework andcomparative policy analysis. Building on that foundation, this year’s contribution to UERA 2026,co-led by TZE and Wonderland Architecture, shifts focus from theoretical groundwork to implementation and public engagement. The presentation showcases how Fair Mobility has operationalized its principles through participatory methodologies, pilot actions, and creative dissemination, translating systemic justice concepts into tangible transformations of both space andnarrative.In Ebensee (Austria), pilot actions addressed car-centric planning while making local inequalitiesvisible. The “Main Street Experiment: Reclaiming the Street” employed temporary spatial interventions to reimagine a traffic corridor as a people-centered community space, demonstratinghow design-led revitalization can foster active mobility, support local economies, and strengthen ecological and social resilience. Complementary initiatives such as the “Salzkammerqueer” meetups tackled safety and connectivity challenges for LGBTQI+ residents, reinforcing regionalcohesion and reducing high-carbon travel.To illustrate methodological diversity, the presentation would also present insights on Creil(France) a peri-urban pilot site where our French partners used a gender-sensitive participatoryapproach to explore women’s perceptions of insecurity and avoidance in public space. These early findings confirm that mobility transitions in small-city and rural contexts must be co-created, ntersectional, and context-specific, integrating governance structures, participatory engagement, and spatial design.Finally as part of its communication strategy, Fair Mobility further amplifies these field experiences through films, podcasts, and webinars to make gender-aware mobility narratives accessible to both expert and public audiences. This mediated layer complements the project’s spatial pilots, extending co-creation into storytelling and public discourse. Speakers will briefly connect these dissemination activities and an analytical lens on representation, coercion, and mobility visibility—to the project’s broader goal: to position socio-spatial justice as a driver for sustainable transformation in Europe’s diverse urban-rural landscapes.