Barrier Effects: The Case of Air and Rail Flows
| Date | 01 July 1995 |
| Published date | 01 July 1995 |
| Author | Nadine Cattan |
| DOI | 10.1177/019251219501600304 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
237
Barrier
Effects:
The
Case
of
Air
and
Rail
Flows
NADINE
CATTAN
ABSTRACT.
Big
cities
play a
key
role
in
pattern
setting
and
thus
in
spatial
integration.
We
assume
that
the
urban network
of
European
centres
thus
constitutes
the
best
field
for
the
observation
of
the
phenomena
of
integra-
tion
and
unification
of
European
space.
An
analysis
of interurban
networks
(air
and
rail)
helps
to
identify
both
the
strongest
links
of
this
integration
and
the
barriers
that
inhibit
its
expansion.
This
paper
employs
the
usual
methodologies,
such
as
gravity
models
and
graph
theory.
Introduction
Over
the
past
decades,
the
geographical
range
has
been
extended
and
the
relative
position
of
places
has
been
changed
through
an
increase
in
the
number
of
commu-
nication
networks
and
in
the
speed
of
traffic.
This
space/time
contraction,
combined
with
the
European
aim
of
constructing
a
territorial
entity,
has
opened
up
European
space
by
weakening
national
boundaries
and
thus
bringing
places
closer
together.
Not
only
have
large
cities
benefited
from
these
changes,
they
have
also
become
more
attractive
centres
in
the
current
restructuring.
’
Questions
are
being
raised
about
the
forms
the
network
structuring
will
take
in
Europe
and
the
levels
of
interconnection
that
will
be
reached.
To
what
extent
do
these
networks
reveal
the
relations
currently
existing
iri fields
of
European
space?
What
is
the
role
of
national
territories
in
this
restructuring
process?
Are
we
observ-
ing
the
emergence
of
an
international
regional
structure
on
a
new
and
larger
scale?
Pattern
setting
in
the
largest
European
cities
depends
on
a
multitude
of
factors:
flow
of
persons,
goods,
information,
financial
exchanges.
Although,
theoretically,
it
is
possible
to
obtain
information
about
these
flows,
in
practice,
it
is
not
and
even
if
it
were,
it
would
not
be
systematically
available.
On
the
one
hand,
the
cost
of
the
evaluation
of
the
respective
flows
is
often
prohibitive.
On
the
other
hand,
the
weakening
of
the
protection
offered
by
national
boundaries
has
resulted
in
a
great
rise
in
competition
between
similar
national
and
international
firms
and
between
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