TY - JOUR
T1 - An accessibility approach to railways and municipal population growth, 1840-1930
AU - Koopmans, C.C.
AU - Rietveld, P.
AU - Huijg, A.
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - In the 19th century, railway networks strongly improved accessibility. In this paper we examine the impact of accessibility improvements on municipal population growth in the Netherlands between 1840 and 1930, using census data. By mapping a multimodal transport network and calculating the shortest travel time between all municipalities, we generate an accessibility indicator which is strongly influenced by railway connections. The regressions show that high rail accessibility levels are positively related to municipal population growth from 1880 onwards. The impact of rail accessibility was stronger at the end of the 19th century, as industrialization took off. The overall impact of rail on population growth has been modest, however. In our model, crowding and urbanization effects dominate. © 2012.
AB - In the 19th century, railway networks strongly improved accessibility. In this paper we examine the impact of accessibility improvements on municipal population growth in the Netherlands between 1840 and 1930, using census data. By mapping a multimodal transport network and calculating the shortest travel time between all municipalities, we generate an accessibility indicator which is strongly influenced by railway connections. The regressions show that high rail accessibility levels are positively related to municipal population growth from 1880 onwards. The impact of rail accessibility was stronger at the end of the 19th century, as industrialization took off. The overall impact of rail on population growth has been modest, however. In our model, crowding and urbanization effects dominate. © 2012.
U2 - 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2012.01.031
DO - 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2012.01.031
M3 - Article
SN - 0966-6923
VL - 25
SP - 98
EP - 104
JO - Journal of Transport Geography
JF - Journal of Transport Geography
ER -