La movilidad en una pequeña isla gallegaun análisis del antes y el después de su sutura con el continente

Abstract

This work studies the impact that the construction of the Arousa Island bridge (ría de Arousa, Galicia) has had upon the local community. This analysis will initially look at the characterisation of islandness as a key factor that shapes the identity of the island’s inhabitants. This will form the basis to understanding the changes in mobility index data that was collected after the construction of the bridge in 1985. This analysis will then explore how changes to the modal split have developed due to the emergence of a car culture on the island and modifications in the patterns of behaviour exhibited by Arousa Islanders. Locals will be the focal point of this analysis. Their perception and evaluation of these changes, extracted by the use of qualitative methods, will lend empirical support to our conclusions, which aim to bring to light an ignored problem: the ongoing loss of public space in the island.