Transport Corridors and the Regional Spatial Structure

Three geographical models relate urbanization, transportation and corridors:

• The urban-system and central places theory mainly considers cities as structurally independent entities that compete over overlapping market areas. Under the location and accessibility model(A) an urban region is considered as a hierarchy / order of services and functions and the corridor a structure organizing interactions within this hierarchy. Transport costs are considered a dominant factor in the organization of the spatial structure as the hinterland of each center is the outcome of the consumers� ability to access its range of goods and services. Because of higher levels of accessibility along the corridor, market areas are smaller and the extent of goods and services being offered are broader. Thus, differences in accessibility are the least significant along the corridor.
• The specialization and interdependency model (B) considers that some cities can have a level of interaction and that transportation could be more than a factor of market accessibility, but also of regional specialization and of comparative advantages. The Megalopolis concept introduced by Gottmann (1961) acknowledges the creation of large urban corridors structured by transportation infrastructures and terminals maintaining interactions. Accessibility and economies of scale, both in production and consumption, are factors supporting the development of such entities where urban areas are increasingly specialized and interdependent. The main assumption is that the accessibility provided by the corridor reinforces territorial specialization and interdependency along its main axis, and consequently the reliance on a regional transport system.
• The distribution/flow model (C) is one where a major gateway of an urban region acts as the main interface between global, national and regional systems. Under such a paradigm, three core structural elements are defining a regional corridor: 1) Gateways regulating freight, passengers and information flows. 2) Transport corridors with a linear accumulation of transport infrastructures servicing a set of gateways. They provide for the physical capacity of distribution. 3) Flows, their spatial structure and the underlying activities of production, circulation and consumption.

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