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Compulsory elements in daily personal mobilities

Les dimensions incontournables de la mobilité personnelle quotidienne
Aharon Kellerman

Résumés

Cet article examine le caractère contraint des mobilités quotidiennes, qui semblent pourtant incarner liberté et autonomie en offrant un choix de modes de transport et de technologies distantes. L’analyse met en évidence que, derrière cette apparente liberté, ces déplacements répondent à des nécessités fondamentales et inévitables. Ils reflètent ainsi des motivations primaires de la mobilité humaine, qu’elles soient intrinsèques (comme les besoins alimentaires et hydriques) ou extrinsèques (telles que la proximité sociale et la curiosité). Si la mobilité virtuelle apparaît comme une alternative pratique permettant de réduire le temps, les coûts et les efforts, elle ne supplante pas les déplacements physiques pour le travail, les interactions sociales et les courses, où le contact direct reste privilégié. En revanche, la recherche d’informations s’effectue majoritairement en ligne, témoignant d’une différenciation entre les usages de la mobilité physique et virtuelle.

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Introduction

1The notion of compulsory mobilities typically relates to imposed permanent migrations and temporary emergency evacuations of individuals or population groups at all geographical scales: intra-urban, domestic, and international (see, e.g., Sheller 2021). Such imposed migrations may occur to specific populations, sometimes under given political or governmental circumstances. These compulsory mobilities may imply entirely compelled movements, from the motivation of the compelling body through the operational conclusion by the resettlement of the moving people.

2Besides such entirely compelled mobilities, some compulsory elements of a different nature are engraved within our seemingly ‘free’ daily personal mobilities. Such compulsory elements typify movements imposed on us as human beings, in some way at least, possibly producing similar mobility behaviors (González et al, 2008). A significant example in this regard is commuting, getting us from home to work and back, with work constituting a significant activity imposed on us for survival. If we like our employment and our workplace, then we may not feel any such compulsion, but for many workers, the feeling of compulsion may be felt, at least from time to time. Similarly, grocery and produce shopping movements are based on another compulsory need, as we need food and clothing for survival. Here, too, the performance of shopping in an attractive supermarket may not transmit any compulsory feeling, but the very need to shop regularly for food is mandatory. Even visits of our friends and relatives may be considered based, at least partially, on a rather compulsory element since human beings require some company.

3It is, therefore, for much of our mobility activity to be imposed on us by some basic needs for our mere survival through the attainment of financial resources, food, and social relations. In contrast, our movements towards open natural space are an example of lower levels of compulsive nature. In addition, alongside compulsory movements, at various levels, there are some additional movements of a voluntary nature, such as cultural activities and shopping beyond our basic needs.

Objectives and Design

4This article explores the nature of compulsory elements within our daily mobilities. These daily personal mobilities present freedom and personal autonomy, notably in the ability of individuals to choose among several mobility modes and technological vehicles for these movements. We will argue that behind this supposedly 'free' look of these personal mobilities, there are hidden behind some basic, and rather compulsory, motivations for mobility, which bring about part of our significant mobility activity, notably commuting, social interaction, grocery shopping, and information search.

5In the following discussions, we will first briefly present the seemingly autonomous character of our mobilities. We will then continue with discussing some basic human needs that constitute compulsory elements in our seemingly autonomous mobilities. These two expositions will be followed by an attempt to locate the mandatory mobility elements within the broader realm of human individual mobility motivations and objectives. These general explorations will permit us to focus on several significant mobilities that stem from compulsory motivations: commuting, socialization, shopping, and information search. For each of these specific mobilities, we will attempt to identify the mobility mode that individuals prefer, physical or virtual, notably through the Internet. This latter exploration is important since the given compulsory background of these mobilities might have called for some preference by individuals for the somewhat more convenient virtual mobility, saving time, cost, and effort. We will see if such a preference possibly exists at the global level, and if not, then why not?

Autonomy in Personal Mobilities

6Personal autonomy may be viewed as socially nurtured. Still, the very yearning of human beings for some personal independence in their bodily mobility constitutes an essential trait of the human spirit, linked to the primary human need to move in space, which we will see in the following section (Kellerman, 2006; 2012; 2023). Contemporary personal autonomy, in general, refers to the independence of individuals concerning choices they may make regarding their desires, actions, or character, including freedoms of expression, religion, and association. Personal autonomy for the performance of personal mobility constitutes part of this general desire for personal independence. It is based on the value of freedom, permitting people a wide variety of autonomy in their mobility. This freedom or independence is expressed in numerous dimensions: their ability to move, the geographical extent of their movements and travel, and their choice of mobility modes, all conditioned by avoiding risk, damage, or nuisance to others.

7Individualistic accents typify personal autonomy in the current and Western sense and constitute a social condition, socially granted and personally applied by members of society. This prevailing social norm for some relatively wide personal autonomies does not automatically imply that all members of society will always tend, or will be able, to take advantage of the potential personal autonomies granted to them. Thus, the currently prevailing individualistic approach to personal autonomy facilitates actions and behavior that follow the proper choices of individuals (Friedman, 2003, p. 4). The degree to which one may realize her/his autonomy, in general, may depend on various individual and social factors, such as character, social norms, technologies in use, socioeconomic status, and culture.

Human Basic Needs

8Underneath the seemingly free and autonomous nature of personal mobilities in contemporary society stand some essential human needs that require locations for satiation. Thus, they may involve mobility in these locations (Kellerman, 2014a, 2014b). As we will see in the following section, these basic needs are expressed in daily life through several rather frequent daily activities. Let us briefly explore the basic human needs, notably the intrinsic ones.

9The exposition of human needs has constituted one of the foundations of modern psychology, based initially on Maslow (1943; 1954; 1968), who proposed a five-phase hierarchy of these needs, presented later as a pyramid of human needs: physiological needs, safety; love/belonging; esteem; and self-actualization. Our interest here lies in the most basic physiological needs, which, for Maslow, include the intrinsic ones of air, food, and water. The following section will also notice several extrinsic human basic needs. The locational dimensions of these needs and the mobilities by individuals to reach them have received little attention in geographical and mobility literature so far. Our attention here will focus on the mobility dimension for their satisfaction, attempting to see whether physical or virtual mobilities are preferred for their satiation.

Compulsory Elements in Daily Personal Mobilities: General Overview

10Human daily mobilities consist of movement and travel, with human movements constituting naturally anchored actions (notably walking), emerging out of human basic needs, and possibly leading to (mechanized) travel as a culturally laden activity. Mobility motivations, for both movement and travel, can be divided into intrinsic ones, i.e., motivations that rise fully from within one's body or mind, and extrinsic or derived ones, i.e., those motivations that rise through some external stimulations (for details see Table 2.1 Kellerman, 2023). It is the primary intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for human mobility, i.e., basic human needs, that constitute compulsory powers for their satisfaction. In contemporary societies, these basic needs are expressed through some sublimated human activities, which, on their part, bring about mobilities that are performed in a somewhat autonomous context. This chain of basic motivations -> sublimated activities -> autonomous mobilities is presented in Table 1.

Table 1: Basic human needs and their contemporary attainment

Basic needs

Contemporary sublimations

of the satisfaction of basic needs

Autonomous contemporary personal mobilities for the satisfaction of basic needs

Intrinsic

Food and water

Work and shopping

A variety of bodily (walking, running), mechanized (public and private transportation), and virtual (internet) mobilities

Fresh air

N/A

N/A

Body moving

Spa, walking and running

Possibly travel to activity locations

Extrinsic

Proximity (to people)

Work, visits, and entertainment

A variety of bodily (walking, running), mechanized (public and private transportation), and virtual (internet) mobilities

Locomotion (to things and places)

Travel and walking

A variety of mechanized (public and private) mobilities

Curiosity (for information)

Internet, conversations, and reading

Mobile phones, tablets, and PCs

See also Kellerman, 2023, Tables 1.1 and 2.1.

11Human intrinsic needs for movement have been studied in several fields of study, mainly biology (e.g., Lu and Chang, 2012), psychology (e.g., Smyth and Wing, 1984), and philosophy (e.g., Breivik 2008). Bodily movement constitutes a fundamental human feature, alongside its constitution of necessity for humans. The human propensity to move reflects some primate essence for our being: ‘Physical mobility is a necessary side of our existence as living beings. We must move in space to find the resources we need for survival and for social interaction' (Hägerstrand 1992, p. 35; see also Hupkes 1982, p. 41). The primary resources which humans need are fresh air, food, and water. Besides these essential external resources, people must move their bodies and body parts. All these physiological needs are included in Maslow's (1943) lowest levels of his hierarchy of human needs (see also Kellerman, 2014a; Chapin, 1978; Mokhtarian et al., 2015). Thus, the intrinsic needs for human survival imply and involve mobility through ‘push’ factors for movement to bring about their satiation.

12The extrinsic fundamental motivations for movements include three deeply rooted human desires: proximity to people, locomotion to things and places, and curiosity for information (Kellerman, 2006, 2012, 2014b, 2022). In other words, we need to reach areas and material things, be close to fellow humans, and know virtual things or information. All these three motivations seem to be genetically human and thus are expressed already in the earliest behavior of babies (for a discussion, see Kellerman, 2006, 2012a). In some general way, perhaps, as Hägerstrand (1992, p. 35) noted: ‘humans seem to have an inborn tendency to be explorers’. Thus, extrinsic motivations for movement constitute 'pull' factors, compared to the somewhat 'push' nature of the intrinsic fundamental motivation for movement.

13In summary, therefore, for intrinsic movement motivations, it seems that humans are by their very nature pushed away from wherever they are at any given moment in time, reflecting their need to reach out for the fundamental physiological resources required for their very survival, as well as for them to be able to move their bodies. Alongside these intrinsic motivations, some primary extrinsic motivations exist for human mobility, constituting 'pull' effects for humans, causing them to reach fellow human beings, material things, places, and information.

14Looking at Table 1 from right to left lets us discover the compulsory roots of our seemingly autonomous and relatively 'free' personal mobilities. Accordingly, we can use various transportation services and communications channels for our physical and virtual mobilities. However, most of our movements and travel in this regard are extrinsically used for reaching our workplaces, stores, friends, etc., which, on their part, constitute contemporary sublimations for our rather basic intrinsic and extrinsic survival needs. The following sections will briefly comment on our mobilities for satiating basic or compulsory needs: work, interaction, grocery shopping, and information search. We will, thus, ignore some additional major mobilities for the satiation of needs such as shopping, other than for groceries, entertainment, and leisure travel.

Commuting: The Journey to Necessitated Work

15Following our general exploration of compulsory elements of daily personal mobilities, we will now discuss the following specific and significant daily mobilities from this perspective: commuting, social interaction, grocery shopping, and information search. We will begin this exploration with commuting, which is probably the most frequent daily trip that people must undergo, given the need to work, which applies to almost all adults.

16A general perspective on the hardships involved in commuting referred to it as playing ‘its part in developing and frustrating the world in which we live’ (Lyons and Chatterjee, 2008, p. 181), with the latter frustration mainly related to the impedance involved in commuting (see, e.g., Schaeffer et al., 1988). This impedance has been brought about by traffic jams, which typify urban commuting and involve a lot of wasted time and effort. In addition, numerous potential damages have been suggested to result from heavy commuting: high blood pressure, tension, lower task performance, tiredness, and more (Kluger, 1998). On the other hand, several positive elements have been suggested for commuting. Thus, commuting was viewed as a journey involving other activities, mainly when riding public transportation (Lyons and Chatterjee, 2008). Also, commuting was regarded as a positive utility involving a productization of travel time and its constitution of a transition time, or buffering time, separating between home and work (Mokhtarian and Salomon, 2001; Kellerman, 1994).

17The alternative to physical commuting is to work from home, being connected to the rather virtual Internet throughout working hours (which is also valid for working from offices). Work from home and hybrid work implies less commuting, and thus, less impedance for individuals and less traffic congestion for urban traffic. However, employers have traditionally preferred their on-site supervision of workers, as well as the holding of face-to-face staff meetings regularly. Employees preferred to meet face-to-face with their colleagues daily or almost daily and, hence, be involved with the goings-on in their offices. Women have preferred a geographical separation between home and work duties (for reviews, see Halford, 2005, Hislop and Axtell, 2007, Felstead et al., 2005, and Loo, 2012). The Coronavirus experience has weakened the objections to working from home but commuting and its associated hardships still apply to most workers. Thus, following the coronavirus, in 2023, some 58.1% of global workers worked thoroughly in their offices, with an additional 28.2% working hybrid in both home and office (Haan, 2023).

Travel for Socialization

18Proximity to fellow humans constitutes an essential human need, as declared already by Aristotle in the fourth century BCE: 'Man is by nature a [political] social animal' (Aristotle, 350 BCE). Reaching other people, friends, and family members has always required some or much movement or travel. Until the introduction of mechanized travel through railways in the early 19th century, such mobilities implied walking, animal riding, or animal-based carts. Later, during modern pre-Internet times, personal physical mobilities were based mainly on public trains and buses, side by side with private cars. The ability to maintain instant and online remote social ties was restricted by the petrifying powers of space and distance, both being unchallenged by communications technologies other than the somewhat limited fixed-line telephony as of the twentieth century. Thus, face-to-face communications constituted the leading mode of communication at the time, implying fewer face-to-face but relatively rich exchanges. Furthermore, the intensity of virtual social networking declined along the distance from one's home (Kellerman, 2022).

19The introduction and adoption of the Internet have enabled individuals to enjoy the optionality of distance in the sense that the Internet has permitted the establishment of close and remote virtual ties at the same ease. However, individuals have still tended to establish and maintain spatially closer ties over remote ones, given their need for physical proximity, side by side with virtual communications. Hence, as was found in numerous studies, Internet users revealed their continued preference for proximity (Kellerman, 2022, 2023). The preference for face-to-face contact was there despite the distance friction, involving the investment of travel, costs, and efforts. The human need for physical proximity was also already there during pre-Internet times. Still, it was hidden by the inexistence at the time of the alternative option of virtual communications, facilitating also remote social ties.

20Face-to-face communication constitutes, therefore, the preferred mode of social communication, turning virtual ones into complementary modes of social communication. Thus, 'digital technologies may be adept at maintaining already formed communities, but they are not so good at creating them in the first place' (Morgan, 2004, p. 5; see also Brown and Duguid, 2000). From the perspective of personal mobilities, proximity has been a strong force in determining the preferred travel distance, physically or virtually. Thus, whereas virtual communications can become, for many employees, a rather preferred mode of mobility for the necessitated work, it will constitute, in many cases, a less preferred option for the strongly needed social and family ties.

Essential Food Shopping

21Total retail shopping in 2023 at the global level pointed to some 33.3% digital buyers out of a total global population (14+) and some 19.5% online shopping out of total retail sales (e-marketer, 2022; Statista, 2023a). Thus, most of the shopping activity still takes place in physical stores. Essential food shopping is probably the most frequent, if not at the individual level, then at the household level. On the one hand, performing such shopping online implies a significant time cost and effort savings, but, on the other hand, it avoids any control by customers of freshness, quality, and choice. Over recent years, including the pandemic, online grocery shoppers globally have increased from 400 million in 2017 to 1.2 billion in 2022 (Statista, 2023b). Still, however, the share of online grocery sales out of the total grocery sales reached globally in 2023 was merely 8.2%, compared to the general share of online sales of 19.5%, or less than half! (Capital One, 2024). Thus, while the number of online grocery shoppers increased dramatically over recent years, the penetration rate of online grocery shopping worldwide by sales is still modest, attesting to a general preference for physical grocery shopping.

In Search for Information

22Traditional searches for information included libraries, talks, phone calls, and other activities, the common dominator for most of which was some required physical reach out. The introduction of the commercial Internet in 1995 and its related tools, mainly websites and search engines, have turned information search into an almost total virtual activity, with the Internet serving as the most extensive library worldwide, reachable from almost everywhere. These rather 'institutional' public virtual facilities have been coupled with social networking as of 2004, thus facilitating information search directly among numerous people anywhere globally simultaneously.

23Thus, in 2023, some 67% of the world population was online, divided between 93% of the population in high-income countries and 27% in low-income ones, thus still presenting a significant global digital gap (ITU, 2024a). Mobile phone ownership statistics were even higher, notably as far as less developed countries are concerned, with 78% of the global population owning one in 2023 and divided between 94% in high-income countries and 57% in less developed ones (ITU, 2024b).

Discussion

24Primary intrinsic and extrinsic motivations for human mobility are basic human needs, notably the intrinsic needs for food and water and the extrinsic ones for proximity to people, as well as curiosity and satiation. These basic needs constitute compulsory powers for their satisfaction by causing individuals to move to proper locations for such satisfaction. In contemporary societies, these basic needs are expressed through sublimated human activities, notably work, social interaction, grocery shopping, and information search. These activities, on their part, bring about mobilities performed within an autonomous context as far as the choices of preferred mobility modes are concerned.

25We presented four contemporary personal activities stemming from compulsory basic human needs: work for survival, social interaction for the meeting of human fellows, grocery shopping for food and water, and information search for the satiation of curiosity. The satisfaction of all these four needs requires mobility towards proper destinations. This mobility is contemporarily possible through physical or virtual means or both interchangeably. Indeed, virtual and physical mobilities are used for the three activities of work, interaction, and shopping. However, most of the movements for reaching these three needs are still physical, or, as far as social interaction is concerned, physical interaction is the preferred mode of interaction, even if a virtual one is used. Only information search has turned, through the Internet, into an almost total virtual activity.

26Why is it so? As it turns out, the physical dimension is most important for humans, also when it comes to mobility. This is demonstrated by the preference for physical touch for groceries and the wish for face-to-face contact at work and social interaction. The development and availability of virtual alternatives for mobility and for the performance of work, shopping, and interaction make it possible for individuals, at least potentially, to make some choice under any given circumstances. Thus, despite the fundamental nature of the activities of work, grocery shopping, and interaction, being compulsory in their constitution of basic needs of humans, the easiest ways to move toward their performance using virtual channels are not necessarily conceived as the always best and favored ones. It is instead the opposite: people need to physically move in space beyond their basic physical need for body locomotion. However, regarding information search, the virtual Internet, which constitutes an information system, is far more convenient than physically moving to information sources. Thus, as far as information search is concerned, it is for information to reach people rather than vice versa, as is the case with physical mobilities.

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Aharon Kellerman, « Compulsory elements in daily personal mobilities »Netcom [En ligne], 39-1/2 | 2025, mis en ligne le 28 février 2025, consulté le 16 février 2026. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/netcom/9467 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/13ego

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Aharon Kellerman

Prof.  Emer, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel, E-mail: akeller@univ.haifa.ac.il, Ph. +972-54-206-5300, ORCID: 0000-0001-6969-8417

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