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An accessibility approach to railways and municipal population growth, 1840–1930

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  • Koopmans, Carl
  • Rietveld, Piet
  • Huijg, Aart

Abstract

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.

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  • Koopmans, Carl & Rietveld, Piet & Huijg, Aart, 2012. "An accessibility approach to railways and municipal population growth, 1840–1930," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 98-104.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jotrge:v:25:y:2012:i:c:p:98-104
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2012.01.031
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    13. Dena Kasraian & Kees Maat & Dominic Stead & Bert van Wee, 2016. "Long-term impacts of transport infrastructure networks on land-use change: an international review of empirical studies," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(6), pages 772-792, November.
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    15. Talebian, Ahmadreza & Zou, Bo & Hansen, Mark, 2018. "Assessing the impacts of state-supported rail services on local population and employment: A California case study," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 108-121.
    16. Lvhua Wang & Yongxue Liu & Liang Mao & Chao Sun, 2018. "Potential Impacts of China 2030 High-Speed Rail Network on Ground Transportation Accessibility," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-16, April.
    17. Pokharel, Ramesh & Bertolini, Luca & te Brömmelstroet, Marco & Acharya, Surya Raj, 2021. "Spatio-temporal evolution of cities and regional economic development in Nepal: Does transport infrastructure matter?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    18. C. Jacobs-Crisioni & C. C. Koopmans, 2016. "Transport link scanner: simulating geographic transport network expansion through individual investments," Journal of Geographical Systems, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 265-301, July.
    19. Mattia Cattaneo & Paolo Malighetti & Stefano Paleari & Renato Redondi, 2015. "Evolution of long distance students? mobility: the role of transport infrastructures in Italy," ERSA conference papers ersa15p1231, European Regional Science Association.
    20. Hiramatsu, Tomoru, 2018. "Job and population location choices and economic scale as effects of high speed rail: Simulation analysis of Shinkansen in Kyushu, Japan," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 15-26.
    21. Jacobs-Crisioni, Chris & Koomen, Eric, 2017. "Population growth, accessibility spillovers and persistent borders: Historical growth in West-European municipalities," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 80-91.

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