This chapter is the introduction to the french edition published in 2019. It introduces the following chapters of the book by linking them to the major issues in literary studies of spatial mobility, and in particular to the issues of walking. We begin by discussing the relationship between the world and art. We criticize the notion of representation and propose that of relation. We then show how the chapters interrogate space, movements and displacements while placing them in the context of the transformations in mobilities since the industrial revolutions. Finally, we situate the book within the fields of space and place studies, the history and sociology of transport, geography and literary studies in order to highlight the value of studying space and place from the perspective of mobilities.