Encountering large-scale infrastructure development in the rural areas: Dynamic effects on rural livelihoods and mobility injustice in northern Laos

Large-scale infrastructure projects along development corridors are widely expected to facilitate rural transformation, create new livelihood opportunities, and alleviate poverty in the Global South. Yet, these projects also have uneven impacts on mobility and risk, causing mobility injustice and deepening inequalities among rural populations. This study uses qualitative methods to examine how large-scale transport infrastructure in northern Laos reshapes rural mobility dynamics to impacts the livelihoods of various rural groups. This paper suggests mobility injustice as an approach to understanding the dynamic effects of infrastructure development on rural livelihoods. The findings reveal that large-scale transport infrastructure has facilitated travel convenience and tourism-related jobs for groups residing in economically visible and tourism-focused areas. However, the findings indicate that the large-scale infrastructure development has not effectively mitigated the spatial differences in mobility that shape rural livelihoods. The impacts suggest risks of mobility injustice for disadvantaged rural groups living far away from the main transport route and non-tourist areas. Moreover, within the newly large-scale infrastructure development, the future maintenance and development of transport networks may exacerbate challenges for the inclusive transformation of rural livelihoods and mobility justice in different regions. This research rethinks the relationship between rural livelihood transformation and infrastructure development by considering the realities and needs of diverse rural populations in the Global South.