Topic 2 Transportation and the Spatial Structure

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Topic 2 Transportation and the Spatial Structure

• Historical Geography of Transportation
• Transport and Spatial Organization
• Transport and Location
• Future Transportation

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Conditions of Usage

• For personal and classroom use only
• Excludes any other form of communication such as
  conference presentations, published reports and
  papers.
• No modification and redistribution permitted
• Cannot be published, in whole or in part, in any
  form (printed or electronic) and on any media
  without consent.
• Citation
• Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue, Dept. of Global Studies
  Geography, Hofstra University.

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A Historical Geography of Transportation I

• 1. Transportation in the Pre-Industrial Era (pre
  1800s)
• 2. The Industrial Revolution and Transportation
  (1800-1870)
• 3. Emergence of Modern Transportation Systems
  (1870-1920)

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Transport Revolutions in Human History
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1. Transportation in the Pre-Industrial Era (pre
1800s)

• Limited transport technology
• No mechanized forms of transportation.
• High friction of distance.
• Harnessing animal labor and wind.
• Isolation and limited long distance trade.
• Existing long distance trade
• Reliance on maritime and fluvial transportation.
• High value commodities along established trade
  routes(e.g. Silk Road).
• Transportation and empire building
• Roman Empire (road network, 80,000 kilometers,
  200 AD).
• Chinese Empire (canal system, 2,500 kilometers).

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The Silk Road and Arab Sea Routes (8th to 14th
Centuries)
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Roman Road Network, 200 AD
Atlantic Ocean
Black Sea
Adriatic Sea
Mediterranean Ocean
Red Sea
500 km
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Grand Canal System, China
Beijing

• The Grand Canal
• Achievement of Imperial hydrological engineering.
• First segments completed around 602 AD (Sui
  Dynasty).
• At its peak during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644
  AD).
• Totaled about 2,500 kilometers, 1,700 still in
  use today.
• Grain distribution through the empire, notably
  its capitals.

Tonghui Canal (Yuan)
Yellow Sea
Yongji Canal (Sui and Yuan)
Old course of the Yellow River (Song)
Jiao-Lai Canal (Yuan)
Jizhou Canal (Yuan)
Yongji Canal (Sui)
Jizhou
East China Sea
Tongji Canal (Sui)
Luoyang
Kaifeng
Huaiyin
Bian Canal (Song)
Chuzhou
Yangzhou Canal (Song and Yuan)
Yangzhou
Jiangnan Canal (Sui, Song and Yuan)
Suzhou
400 km
Hangzhou
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1. Transportation in the Pre-Industrial Era (pre
1800s)

• European expansion
• Mastery of sailing and artillery.
• Eastern trade route
• Discovered by Portugal.
• Cape of good hope reached by 1481.
• Gama (1497-99) first to reach India.
• China reached by 1513.
• Western trade route
• Discovered by Columbus (1492).
• Failed to reach Asia (America discovered).
• Cabot tried (1497), but also failed.
• Magellan (1519-22) successful to round the world.
• Establishment of colonial empires.

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Caravel, 15th Century
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Early European Maritime Expeditions, 1492-1522
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Dutch East India Company, Trade Network, 17th
Century
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Colonial Trade Pattern, North Atlantic, 18th
Century
1) Sugar, Molasses, Slaves 2) Flour, Meat, Lumber
Tobacco, Furs, Indigo, Lumber
Europe
North America
Sugar, Molasses, Fruits
Manufactures
North Atlantic Ocean
1
2
Africa
West Indies
Dominant wind
Slaves, Gold, Pepper
South America
Trade Route
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2. The Industrial Revolution and Transportation
(1800-1870)

• Mechanization of transportation
• Steam engine (as a water pump).
• First steamship on the Delaware river (1790).
• Eventually lead to the development of railways.
• Regular maritime routes
• Notably over the North Atlantic (Europe North
  America).
• The era of clipper ships
• Fast cargo ships used for intercontinental trade
  (Asia, Europe, America).
• The emergence of the steamship
• Savannah (first to cross the Atlantic in 1820).
• Great Britain (first steel and helix propelled
  ship, 1844).
• Accurate navigation charts (1850s)
• Prevailing winds and sea current used to the
  advantage of navigation.

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Clipper Ship Flying Cloud
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An Early Steamship, The Great Britain, 1845
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Impacts of Maurys Navigation Charts on Sailing
Time, 1850s
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Break-Even Distance between Sail and Steam,
1850-1890
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Liner Transatlantic Crossing Times, 1838 1952
(in days)
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2. The Industrial Revolution and Transportation
(1800-1870)

• Land transport systems
• Serious problems of land transportation.
• Roads were commonly unpaved and could not be used
  to effectively carry heavy loads.
• Attempts to develop toll road systems (Turnpikes
  in UK).
• Freight shipping canals
• Bridgewater Canal, Britain, 1761.
• Erie Canal, New York, 1825.
• Linking different segments of fluvial systems
  into a comprehensive waterway system.
• Fluvial barges.
• Lowered significantly land transport costs.
• Permitted initial industrialization.

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Turnpikes in Great Britain, Late 18th and Early
19th Century
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Mail Coach, Great Britain, 18th Century
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Bridgewater Canal, Manchester, 1767
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Erie Canal, New York, 1829
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2. The Industrial Revolution and Transportation
(1800-1870)

• Railway systems
• First commercial rail line in 1830
  (Manchester-Liverpool 40 miles).
• Access to national resources and markets
• The triumph of inland transportation.
• First urban systems.
• End of the canal era
• Many canals fell into disrepair.
• Unable to compete with the speed and flexibility
  of rail.
• Only the most strategic links were kept.
• From a point-to-point to an integrated rail
  system
• Large companies.
• Standard gauge.
• Standard times zones (1884)

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Completion of the Transcontinental Railway, 1869
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3. Emergence of Modern Transportation Systems
(1870-1920)

• Growth of international transportation
• Shift from coal to oil in ships
• Reduce their energy consumption by a factor of
  90.
• Increase in ship size (no longer limited by
  wood).
• Construction of the Suez and Panama canals.
• Dominance of the rail transport system
• By the early 20th century, most systems reached
  their peak.
• Overinvestment and over development.
• A phase of decline then began.

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Rail Track Mileage, United States, 1833-2006
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Geographical Impact of the Suez Canal, 1869
EUROPE
EAST ASIA
AFRICA
Indian Ocean
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Geographical Impact of the Panama Canal, 1914
NORTH AMERICA
Atlantic Ocean
SOUTH AMERICA
Pacific Ocean
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3. Emergence of Modern Transportation Systems
(1870-1920)

• Modern urban transportation
• Increase in urban population.
• Introduction of tramways (1880 horse drawn, and
  then electric).
• Urban sprawl and the specialization of economic
  functions.
• Underground metro systems in large cities
  (London, 1863).
• Bicycle (1867) cheap mobility for the masses.
• Modern telecommunications
• Telegraph (1844).
• Associated with the growth of railways and
  international shipping.
• Business transactions became more efficient.
• Creation of standard times zones (1884).
• Every continent was linked by telegraphic lines
  (1895).

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Global Telegraph System, c1901 (the Victorian
Internet)
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A Historical Evolution of Transportation II

• 1. Transportation in the Fordist Era (1920-1970)
• 2. A New Context for Transportation the
  Post-Fordist Era (1970-)

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1. Transportation in the Fordist Era (1920-1970)

• Internal combustion engine
• Diesel engine (1885).
• Extended flexibility of movements.
• Fast, inexpensive and ubiquitous transport modes
  (cars, buses and truck).
• Mass production system
• Applied by Ford for car manufacturing.
• Ford Model T about 14 million Ford Model T were
  built (1913-1927).
• Increased demand for oil products and other raw
  materials (steel and rubber).

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Assembly Line of the Ford Model T, 1913
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Ford T Coupelet, 1915
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1. Transportation in the Fordist Era (1920-1970)

• Economies of scale
• Mass consumption of resources.
• Bulk commodities such as minerals and grain over
  long distances.
• Oil Tankers.
• Propelled flight
• Wright brothers (1903).
• Commercial air transport service between England
  and France (1919).
• Expansion of regional / national air transport
  services (1920s-1930s).
• Douglas DC-3 (1935).
• First commercial jet plane (Boeing 707 1958).

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Comparison between a Contemporary and Second
World War Tanker
1975
Modern VLCC (305 m)
1942
T2 Tanker (153 m)
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ULCC, Persian Gulf
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Wright Brothers First Airplane, 1903
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Douglas DC-3, 1937
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Boeing 707, 1958
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1. Transportation in the Fordist Era (1920-1970)

• Telecommunications
• Mass market media.
• Telephone (1878).
• Radio (1920).
• Television (1950).
• Automobile
• Massive diffusion (1950s).
• Suburbanization and expansion of cities.

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2. A New Context for Transportation the
Post-Fordist Era (1970-)

• Telecommunications
• Merging with information technologies.
• Information highway (Internet).
• Growth in processing power of computers
• Moores law.
• Number of transistors per integrated circuit
  would double every 18 months.
• Satellite communications.
• Wireless networks.

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Moores Law Transistors per Microprocessor,
1971-2006
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US Household Penetration of Telecommunications,
1920-2008
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2. A New Context for Transportation the
Post-Fordist Era (1970-)

• Globalization of trade
• Fragmentation of the production.
• International division of labor.
• The principle of just-in-time.
• Development of logistics.
• Containerization
• Increased flexibility of freight transport.
• First containership, Ideal-X (1956).
• Cellular containerships (1967).
• Massification of air transport
• Boeing 747 (1969).

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Cellular Containership, La Havre, France
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Boeing 747
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2. A New Context for Transportation the
Post-Fordist Era (1970-)

• High-speed train networks
• Shinkansen, Japan (1964).
• TGV, France (1981).
• Globalization of car manufacturing
• Three major players, US, Germany and Japan.
• New producers (Korea).
• 80 of oil consumption attributed to road
  transportation.
• Transport crisis
• Innovations in transport modes.
• Reduction of energy consumption.
• Alternative sources of energy.

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Shinkansen, Japan
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Automobile Production, United States, Japan and
Germany, 1950-2006 (in millions)