NECTAR Research Cluster 1 Workshop: The Wider Economic and Social Impacts of Transport Networks

There is a growing attention towards the impacts of improved accessibility from transport infrastructure investments, in rural as well as in urban transport networks. In some rural networks, research indicates that the economic and social impacts of increased accessibility could be severely underrated, mainly because of spill-over effects from increased competition. These mechanisms can be valid both for surface and air based networks. The exploitation of natural resources (e.g. petroleum, fisheries) in rural areas may call for both exchange of key personnel and fast access to markets. In more densely populated areas, impacts on labour productivity have been researched, based on the works by Paul Krugman. A challenging question is to what extent travel distance and the characteristics of the connected parties (e.g. being central vs. peripheral in the network) matter. Another question is to what extent the quality of the transport networks affect location behaviour of households and firms, both on the intra- and the international level. Topics for the Workshop are: * Transport networks and location * Wider economic impacts of rural-urban connectivity * Assessing the social impacts of investments in transport * Transport networks and industrial diversity * Air transport networks and infrastructure * New Economic Geography (NEG) and transport A good number of leading international experts have submitted abstracts to the workshop. These include: Prof. Anthony Venables, Oxford University Prof. Roger Vickerman, University of Kent, UK Prof. Aura Reggiani, Bologna University Prof. Peter Nijkamp, Amsterdam Free University Prof. Peter Mackie, University of Leeds Prof. Peter Jones, University College London The workshop addresses the 3rd of the main thematical areas for TRANSPORT 2025: a transport system for future-oriented regional and urban development. This topic is currently on the political agenda for the transport sector in many countries.