Long-term impacts of transport infrastructure networks on land-use change: an international review of empirical studies

Abstract

Improvements in geographical information systems, the wider availability of high-resolution digital data and more sophisticated econometric techniques have all contributed to increasing academic interest and activity in long-term impacts of transport infrastructure networks (TINs) on land use (LU). This paper provides a systematic review of recent empirical evidence from the USA, Europe and East Asia, classified regarding the type of transport infrastructure (road or rail), LU indicator (land cover, population or employment density, development type) and outcome (significance, relationship's direction) as well as influential exogenous factors. Proximity to the rail network is generally associated with population growth (particularly soon after the development of railway infrastructure), conversion to residential uses and the development of higher residential densities. Meanwhile, proximity to the road network is frequently associated with increases in employment densities as well as the conversion of land to a variety of urban uses including commercial and industrial development. Compared with road infrastructure, the impact of rail infrastructure is often less significant for land cover or population and employment density change. The extent of TINs' impact on LU over time can be explained by the saturation in TIN-related accessibility and LU development. ARTICLE HISTORY

Measuring one century of railway accessibility and population change in France. A historical GIS approach

“…The construction of historical geographic information system of railway networks is a growing initiative in the fields of GeoHumanities and economic geography (Atack, 2013;Kasraian et al, 2016;Martí-Henneberg, 2013a;Schwartz, 2015;Schwartz et al, 2011a). The first step in this part of our research was devoted to finding historical maps of railway lines and other evidence that would provide the opening and closing dates of lines and stations-to name the essentials.…”

Land Use as a Motivation for Railway Trespassing: Experience from the Czech Republic

“…The development of railways and its impact on changes in settlement infrastructure and land use have been investigated only marginally in the Czech Republic [24]. Elsewhere, studies focusing on the historical context of railway network development and its impact on land use can be found [25,26]. The influence of physical barriers, including railways, on land-use patterns and socio-spatial differentiation within towns was emphasized also by Noonan [27].…”

The impact of urban proximity, transport accessibility and policy on urban growth: A longitudinal analysis over five decades

“…Overall, these arguments show that stimulating and guiding urbanisation only by investing in transport infrastructures is ineffective in areas with saturated networks and accessibility. In other words, in an era and location where transport networks and their provided accessibility are saturated, significant change in land use can only be triggered by custom (integrated) transport and land use policies (see also Kasraian et al, 2016).…”

“…They generally conclude that access to road networks, especially motorways, increases the likelihood of conversion to urban land (Hu and Lo, 2007;Iacono and Levinson, 2009;Levinson and Chen, 2005;Muller et al, 2010). The role of railways in the conversion to urban land is less evident as both positive, negative and neutral impacts are reported (see for a detailed overview Kasraian et al, 2016).…”