4: Conceptual Perspectives for Explaining Spatio-Temporal Behaviour in Urban Areas

This chapter resulted from a theoretical and methodological discourse about daily mobility in urban areas that took place during the design of a longitudinal survey for the Quebec City region². This chapter has two objectives: (a) to propose a systematic conceptual framework for analysing and explaining the travel behaviour of urban dwellers; (b) to underline the multidimensionality of decision-making processes, and of rules of behaviour and their evolution, arguing that the economic and temporal dimensions should not be as dominant as they have been in conventional frameworks. In particular, we propose that the spatial and temporal dimensions of behaviour should be considered simultaneously and given equal weight.