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After almost two decades of the ‘New Mobilities Paradigm’ it seems that a new direction in scholarship is emerging, which considers places as mobile. The focus of this paper, is understanding how individual experience can create meaning for places which are on the move. We are living through a time of mass movement, be it for leisure, work or across borders seeking refuge from war. In all of the above cases, it could be argued that transport infrastructure is just as important as destination. The understanding of the places of ‘movement’ is important to be able to improve and develop appropriate transport infrastructure that people value into the future. Acknowledging that, there has been decades of research on the embodied experiences of moving, yet very few scholars examine how place influences this experience. In addition, scholarship on transport infrastructure has primarily focussed on rail and road, despite many urban areas being placed on river banks for original purpose of access and mobility. To address this, the paper examines the River Tyne in the North East of England, as a transport
infrastructure, and a mobile place. Drawing on primary research, collected both whilst ‘on the move’ on the River and on its banks, this paper explores how the experience of place can be connected to mobility and expectations on river infrastructure. This paper develops the concept of ‘mobophilia’ in response to the meaning and connection which are given to River Tyne and propose it as a way forward and advance the scholarship on understanding the social value of mobile places. Further, contributing, to the increasing scholarship on urban transition, this paper aims to shed light on what the future is for mobility on rivers.
