The Orderliness Hypothesis: Does Population Density Explain the Sequence of Rail Station Opening in London?

David Levinson

No 200804, Working Papers from University of Minnesota: Nexus Research Group

Abstract: Network growth is a complex phenomenon; some researchers have suggested that it occurs in an orderly or rational way, based on the size of places that are connected. This paper examines the order in which stations were added to the London surface rail and Underground rail networks in the 19th and 20th centuries, testing to what extent that order was correlated with population density. While population density is an important factor in explaining order, this research shows that other factors are at work. The network itself helps to reshape land uses, and a network that may have been well ordered at one time, may drift away from order as activities relocate.

Keywords: Transport and land use; London Underground; network growth; railways (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N73 N74 R21 R31 R42 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 35 pages
Date: 2007-02, Revised 2007-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-geo
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Published in Journal of Transport History 29(1) March 2008.

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http://hdl.handle.net/11299/179975 Second version, 2008 (application/pdf)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nex:wpaper:orderliness

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