Long-term differential effects of transport infrastructure investment in rural areas

Esther González-González and Soledad Nogués

Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 2019, vol. 125, issue C, 234-247

Abstract: European and national transport policies identify territorial cohesion as their main goal. However, the lack of attention to intra-regional relationships has complicated the understanding of the diverse repercussions of these policies on the economic and social equity of rural areas over time. Long-term assessments of transport effects in these less studied areas, which cover more than two thirds of the European territory, are essential to identify common problems associated with transport investments and to detect potential strategies to confront their future challenges. This paper, analyses the effects of transport policy development in the Spanish Northwest Area over the last 20 years, where about 95% of municipalities are considered rural. The assessment focuses on the spatial effects of transport development, using a Geographical Information System (GIS), and inequality and correlation analyses of accessibility, demographic and economic indicators. Results show that while the accessibility gap between urban and rural areas was reinforced by the construction of high-capacity infrastructures during the first half of the study period, the completion of the network during the second decade balanced this situation, enabling a more equitable access to basic services, goods and opportunities. However, these improvements have not been enough to reverse the initial lagging inertia of the rural areas and to reduce their socioeconomic disadvantages against urban ones.

Keywords: Rural areas; Accessibility; Transport policy assessment; Social equity, decision-making; Regression analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965856417306201
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:transa:v:125:y:2019:i:c:p:234-247

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/supportfaq.cws_home/regional
https://shop.elsevie ... _01_ooc_1&version=01

DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2018.01.026

Access Statistics for this article

Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice is currently edited by John (J.M.) Rose

More articles in Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().