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Tue 13 April
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    10.45
    14.15
    16.30

Wed 14 April
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    10.45
    14.15
    16.30

Thu 15 April
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    10.45
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Tuesday 13 April 2010 14.15
H-3 HIS03 Economy 1: Transport, Economy and GIS
Hortazaal, Pauli
Networks: , Technology Chair: Ian Gregory
Organizers: - Discussant: Ian Gregory
Sedef Akgungor, Yaprak Gulcan & Vahap Tecim : A GIS Approach for the Analysis of Regional Development Effects of the Road Network in Turkey
Theory predicts that investment on building and improving transport infrastructure positively affects regional development. Better transport leads to lower transport costs, wider range of market choices and improved access to input markets. Empirical studies demonstrate positive relationship between accessibility and regional economic growth (Munnell and Cook, 1990; Vickerman, Spiekerman and ... (Show more)
Theory predicts that investment on building and improving transport infrastructure positively affects regional development. Better transport leads to lower transport costs, wider range of market choices and improved access to input markets. Empirical studies demonstrate positive relationship between accessibility and regional economic growth (Munnell and Cook, 1990; Vickerman, Spiekerman and Wegener, 1999). Differences in transportation infrastructure may help understand the disparities in regional inequalities and growth.
Building of the road infrastructure in modern Turkey accelerated particularly after 1945. After the Second World War, following liberalization in economic and political life, modern Turkey began to shift the focus of its transportation policies from railways to highways . The aim of the paper is to explore the impact of road network development on regional economic growth in Turkey.
The paper employs a GIS approach in demonstrating the growth in road network and regional economic growth in Turkey starting from the early 1900 through 2008. The data consists of historical developments in regional GDP per capita, regional industrial production and regional population density (economic variables). Changes in economic variables and road network will be investigated through GIS maps. Causality between growth in regional GDP and road network will further be analyzed through a time series model to interpret simultaneous and two-way interaction of transport networks and economic growth patterns. (Show less)

Ana Alcântara, Nuno Miguel Lima : Regional patterns of attractiveness and accessibility to railways in Portugal (1890-1930)
This work intends to discuss the idea of regional attractiveness, conceived as the capacity to attract external population, and to verify to what extent this capacity might have been influenced by accessibility to the railway network.
In fact, since the mid-nineteenth century railways were at the base of the entire national ... (Show more)
This work intends to discuss the idea of regional attractiveness, conceived as the capacity to attract external population, and to verify to what extent this capacity might have been influenced by accessibility to the railway network.
In fact, since the mid-nineteenth century railways were at the base of the entire national system of communications. According to the governmental classification, roads were no more than a complement to the railway network. This classification and the perception of the importance of roads in the overall transport system only changed during the 1930s, reflecting the actual transformation that was taking place. Therefore, to study the mobility of the Portuguese population in the period under consideration (1890-1930) it is essential to understand the effects of the presence/absence of the railway infrastructures in each region, relating accessibility and attractiveness.
For this purpose we will use data on the percentage of native and foreign population, at municipal level, taken from the five censuses published during those years and the detailed maps of the administrative boundaries and railway network we have produced. All the information has been integrated into a GIS allowing an accurate analysis.
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* This paper is being prepared in the framework of an ESF collaborative research project called The Development of European Waterways, Road and Rail Infrastructures: A Geographical Information System for the History of European Integration (1825-2005). The authors benefited from research fellowships awarded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) [SFRH/BTI/33380/2008 and SFRH/BI/33382/2008].
** Ana Alcântara, Instituto de História Contemporânea, MSc student in Geographic Information Systems and Science, ISEGI-UNL, Portugal.
*** Nuno Miguel Lima, Instituto de História Contemporânea, PhD student in History, FCSH-UNL, Portugal. (Show less)

Yesim Kustepeli, Ian Gregory : Railroads, Population Growth and Economic Development: A Comparative
Better transport infrastructure that leads to lower transport costs, wider range of market choices and improved access to input markets causes regions to become more productive, competitive and successful. Argument has been taken further to imply that improving general levels of accessability leads to greater integration and efficiency at the ... (Show more)
Better transport infrastructure that leads to lower transport costs, wider range of market choices and improved access to input markets causes regions to become more productive, competitive and successful. Argument has been taken further to imply that improving general levels of accessability leads to greater integration and efficiency at the European level. Modern transport networks are essential for European competitiveness (Vickerman, Spiekerman and Wegener, 1999; Auscauer, 1989; Nadiri and Mamuneas, 1996).
The first objective of the paper is to test the hypothesis that transport infrastructure and thus increased accessability has made a significant impact on population growth and economic growth. The hypothesis will be tested through data on two European Countries: Turkey and UK. The data set on railroad expansion, population growth and economic growth consists of time series observations for the years 1850 through 2008. The historical data set will allow the researchers to model the cyclical fluctuations between transportation, economic growth and population growth as well as to model possible structural breaks (World Wars, The Great Depression). The second objective of the paper is to demonstrate the dynamic changes across the railroad expansion variable, population variable and economic growth variable through GIS maps.
References:
Vickerman, R., K. Spiekerman and M. Wegener (1999). “Accessibility and Economic Development in Europe”. Regional Studies 33(1): 1-15.
Auscauer, D.A. (1989). “Is Public Expenditure Productive?”. Journal of Monetary Economics 23: 177-200.
Nadiri, M.I. and T.P. Mamuneas (1996). “Highway Capital and Productivity Growth”. Eno Transportation Foundations Inc., Landsdown, VA. (Show less)

Luis Silveira, Daniel Alves : The Construction of the Modern Transport Network and Regional Population Distribution in Portugal (1801-1940)
The purpose of this paper is to study, in the broader European context, the effect of the transport revolution in the regional population distribution in Portugal in the period between 1801 and 1940.
In the beginning of the nineteenth century, population distribution reflected some structural characteristics: a contrast between a densely ... (Show more)
The purpose of this paper is to study, in the broader European context, the effect of the transport revolution in the regional population distribution in Portugal in the period between 1801 and 1940.
In the beginning of the nineteenth century, population distribution reflected some structural characteristics: a contrast between a densely populated north and a scarcely populated south, and in the northern part of the territory, a similar difference between the coastal areas and mountainous inland regions.
Despite the transport revolution that began in 1856 with the opening of the first railway line, followed by road improvement and later by motorization, the preliminary maps we have produced so far tend to show that the general pattern described above persisted throughout the first half of the twentieth century, without excluding important and gradual changes: the increasing concentration of population on the seacoast and the growth of the medium size towns. The role of the new means of transport in this evolution is the problem we want to address.
This paper benefits from the work we have been developing for several years, applying GIS to historical research in different perspectives: the reconstitution of Portuguese administrative maps from mid-eighteenth century onwards; the methodology to create series of comparable data despite changing territorial boundaries and historical analysis.
This work results from an ESF collaborative research project called The Development of European Road and Rail Infrastructures: A Geographical Information System for the History of European Integration (1825-2005). (Show less)



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