From wheels to systems: Characterizing automobility as technosphere

Creutzig, Felix, Wells, Peter ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4376-7178, Wagner, Felix, Aguilar Jaber, Aimee and Andor, Mark 2026. From wheels to systems: Characterizing automobility as technosphere. The Anthropocene Review 10.1177/20530196261472905

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Abstract

Automobility’s global role in providing mobility services but with adverse impacts on climate change and land use makes it a critical topic at a planetary scale. So far the role of cars has been mostly addressed from a techno-economic perspective, with complementary but fragmented insights from other social sciences. We provide evidence that understanding automobility as a sub-system of the technosphere compromising human-made artifacts and structures with impacts at planetary scale enables investigations from a systems perspective. Our empirically grounded characterization of causal loops provides insights on intervention points guiding co-evolutionary trajectories between automobility, societies, and local and planetary dynamics along different temporal and spatial scales. We systematically draw on existing modeling approaches for outlining how to model automobility as technosphere in a reduced form. We conclude that policies, measures and cultural shifts should be systematically evaluated according to their impact on car-dependent systems. Our approach offers novel insights for reorienting automobility toward pathways consistent with low planetary impact and high well-being.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Schools > Business (Including Economics)
Additional Information:	For full author list see https://doi.org/10.1177/20530196261472905
ISSN:	2053-0196
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	14 October 2026
Last Modified:	14 Oct 2026 08:00
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/190233

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