Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Transport refers to the movement of people and goods from one location to another. It can be viewed as a key determinant and consequence of the social and spatial formation and development of contemporary cities and regions. The role of transport has been traditionally investigated within two (usually, interrelated) spatio-economic and social frameworks of reference, i.e., those of urban and regional analysis. These frameworks are described here and particular emphasis is given to the relationship between transport and the social and economic inequalities among cities or regions. This relationship is principally governed by the existence of positive or negative externalities induced by the provision of (mainly, public) infrastructure in a region to and from other (principally neighboring) regions. On the one side, the positive externalities refer to the positive spillovers or “network effects” of transport supply yielding aggregate productivity gains beyond the sum of local gains. These effects are mostly observed at greater levels of geographical aggregation, i.e., at the regional and state level (e.g., Aschauer 1989 ; Munnell 1992 ), where the productivity gains are more pronounced, compared to the local or urban level of analysis. On the other side, the negative spillovers arise when productivity gains realized by transport investment in a region are to some extent cancelled ... log in or subscribe to read full text