p31
A GIS analysis of the evolution of the railway network and population densities in England and Wales (1851-2000)
Marta Felis-Rota (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid)
Jordi Martí Henneberg (Universitat de Lleida) Laia Mojica (Universitat de Lleida)
PAPER (pdf)
Abstract:
This paper links the development of urban settlements in England and Wales to the expansion of the railway. We develop what we have called the Historical Geographic Information System - Europe (HGISe). We ensembled a dataset including the population of local civil parishes and operational railway lines and stations with annual detail from 1851 to 2000 and use GIS software to test whether the uneven geographic transformation of England and Wales is significantly related to access to new means of transportation, namely the newly established railway lines and stations. We find a dynamic relationship between population density growth and transport infrastructure. We suggest the use of railway stations instead of kilometres of line as a more precise indication of access to rail. We find that rural and urban settlements were uneven, and very much linked to the opening of new rail stations.
Short cv:
Marta Felis-Rota is Ph.D. in Economic History by the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). She was formerly trained as a B.Sc. and M.Sc. economist at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona and École des Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC) in Lausanne, Switzerland. She has taught international economic history at the London School of Economics, Pompeu Fabra University, University Pablo de Olavide and Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Currently, she holds an Assistant Professorship in Economic History at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Her research work so far has been financed by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, and the Regional Government of Madrid. Her research is on social capital, economic history, institutions and international trade, and transportation. Her research on social capital earned the Graduate Student Prize from the Society for the Advancement of Socio-economics. She has published at the Revista de Historia Económica: Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History, Cambridge University Press.