Autonomy and independence in urban space have been the object of sustained interest for several decades. The questions surrounding these two key concepts in research and intervention on urban environments are mainly related to development processes. They are constantly renewed against the backdrop of issues emerging from the evolution of societies or their living environments. This themed issue intends to address the various pivotal periods in the life course that appear fundamental for spatial mobility: childhood, adolescence, working life, retirement and old age. One-off, less predictable events can also interfere with the autonomy process by influencing freedom of choice or even access to the urban environment: job relocation, residential mobility, a family break-up or health problems. We put forward that daily travel behaviours, but also the urban territories and resources that are their corollary, are inclined to change in both short term (modification of schedules or routes, changes of destination...) or longer-term, following a biographical event (birth of a child, divorce or marriage...) (Scheiner, 2007, 2018). Similarly, these changes will follow rationales that are related to the individual and his or her evolution, others that are more related to the urban context and more macro-sociological logics. This themed issue intends to put forward original research in the scope of person-environment research from environmental psychology, geography, planning and urban sociology.