E-scooter regulation: The micro-politics of market-making for micro-mobility in Bergen

Micro-mobility market-making represents an under-studied but important aspect of urban transport sustainability transitions. Micro-mobility roll-out combines several critical elements: decarbonisation, digitalisation and public space interventions. We theorise the emergence of a micro-mobility market, drawing on innovation studies, micro-politics scholarship and common-ing mobility literature, and critically discuss the relationship between innovation and regulation in this emerging market. We examine e-scooter roll-out in Bergen, Norway, using a structured analysis that interrogates knowledge, authority and power. Our empirical analysis employs expert interviews and focus group discussions with key transport sector stakeholders, including poli-cymakers, practitioners and urban residents. We discuss insights in terms of implications for how micro-mobility markets are made and in turn make urban transport sustainability transitions. We argue that while micro-mobility can enable just low-carbon mobility transitions, market forces drive outcomes that may undermine urban sustainability agendas. We identify scope for dynamic regulation to engender low-carbon mobility in wider public interest.