Thomas J. Cooke

Wilbur Zelinsky's 1971 paper in Geographical Review entitled the “Hypothesis of the Mobility Transition” was both forward‐looking and offered innovative ideas regarding human geographic mobility. One of the most interesting aspects of the paper was a set of predictions for mobility in a “future superadvanced society”. Many of these predictions have now come to pass, including a general decline in international and internal migration and residential change, the increasing regulation of migration ‐ especially internally, and the possibility that the widespread adoption of information and communication technologies has impacted human geographic mobility. Hence, this essay looks at the mobility transition not as an obsolete frame of reference but as a prescient, pliable, and adaptable framework which not only informs the study of human geographic mobility today but also, perhaps, even into the future.

The paper explores why internal migration rates fell in England and Wales between 1971 to 1981 and 2001 to 2011. It considers all‐address changing rates, short‐distance migration (address changes involving moves of 10 km or less) and long‐distance migration (moves of 50 km or more). It does so by using the Blinder–Oaxaca method to decompose the differences between the 2 time periods into a compositional component (changes in the aggregate migration rate attributable to increases or decreases in more or less migratory groups of the population) and a rate component—the extent to which these population groups behave differently in the 2 time periods. The analysis finds that changing population structure since the 1970s does not fully account for the observed decreases. Instead, it seems that changed migratory behaviour and in particular, a large general downward effect that cuts across all population groups are the most important component. The greater decrease in address changing observed for all moves and those of less than 10 km (compared with longer distance moves) points the search for further explanations in the direction of factors known to be associated with short‐distance moves such as the housing market, and this is identified as an avenue for more research.

A common presumption is that the widespread adoption of advanced information and communication technologies (ICTs) over the last several decades enhances residential mobility and migration. This research critically evaluates this presumption from the perspective of the long‐term decline in residential mobility and migration in many developed countries and concludes that ICTs are capable of both enhancing and impeding residential mobility and migration. Estimates from an instrumental variable model of residential mobility and migration using data from the Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study indicate a large negative effect of ICTs on residential change and smaller negative effect on migration.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1007/s10680-017-9437-1.].

Using detailed geocoded microdata from the British Household Panel Survey and longitudinal random-effects models, we analyse the determinants and trajectories of geographical distances between separated parents. Findings of particular note include the following: (1) post-separation linked lives, proximities and spatial constraints are characterised by important gender asymmetries; (2) the formation of new post-separation family ties (i.e. new partners and children) by fathers is linked to moves over longer distances away from the ex-partner than for mothers; (3) the distribution of pre-separation childcare responsibilities is relevant for determining post-separation proximity between parents; and (4) most variation in the distance between ex-partners occurs in the immediate period following separation (approximately the first year), suggesting that the initial conditions around separation can have long-lasting implications for the types of family life, ties and contact experienced in the years after separation.

While there is a limited body of research regarding residential mobility and migration following union dissolution, there is a particular dearth of studies that go into detail about the factors that shape how union dissolution may result in long-distance m

The human capital and creative class hypotheses argue that the agglomeration of skilled and creative people is key to economic growth. Migration is assumed to play an important role in forming these agglomerations. However, the results of this study indicate that while younger cohorts of skilled and creative individuals are highly mobile, skilled and creative couples are highly immobile. This research hypothesizes that it is these relatively immobile skilled and creative couples that are behind the link between urban growth and concentrations of skill and creativity. Indeed, this analysis finds a strong empirical link between concentrations of skilled couples, but not creative class couples, and economic growth. Public policies designed to increase the size of the skilled population should be directed at retaining younger cohorts long enough for them to develop the local networks upon which spillover effects rely.