Spatial Political Economy: Railway Networks in Britain and France Robert Schwartz Mount Holyoke College

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1 Spatial Political Economy: Railway Networks in Britain and France Robert Schwartz Mount Holyoke College

2 Doreen Massey & Spatial Political Economy Spatial Divisions of Labour: Social Structures and the Geography of Production (1984, 1995) & subsequent works blended structural determinants and human agency. Localities formed by layers of past investment (production facilities, transport infrastructure etc.), which Shape diverse paths of development, but they are not wholly decisive because Political actions can intervene to modify historically-conditioned spatial relations. In sum, Spaces and places potentially possess open multiplicity, open historicity to the extent that political decisions and collective action re-direct historically conditioned paths of development.

3 Railways and Uneven Development Railways embody and localize capital investments: Indicate uneven development Affect uneven development through stimulation of new economic and commercial opportunities. In Britain & France Where, when, & to what extent did railways reinforce or diminish existing regional economic disparities? Where, when, & to what extent did political will alter the outcomes?

4 Railway Expansion The Converging Paths, kilometers of rail per 100,000 inhabitants Average rail density by area England & Wales: 16 km / 100 km2 France: 7 km / km2

5 Railway Organization England & Wales Private companies Privately financed Success = profitability Government regulation Liberal trade policy Rural/agrarian population relatively small & declining After 1850, imports of food rise France Private & state companies Privately & state financed, including state guarantees of private investments in rail Success = profitability & public utility Government regulation & design of network Limited liberal trade policy Rural/agrarian population relatively vast, peaked in 1870s 1881 protective tariffs limit imports of food

6 Responses to the Agrarian Crisis ca Britain Parliamentary hand-wringing Held to free trade in foodstuffs Legislative initiatives encourage expansion into under-served areas, e.g., The Light Railway Bill, 1893 France 1881, tariffs on foodstuffs enacted, after pressure from agrarian interests Freycenet Program of rail expansion 1878 Expansion of main network Creation of new network of lines of local interest, with private, state, and local financing Political aims: strengthen loyalties to the new regime of 3 rd Republic Economic: modernize the vast agrarian sector

7 Politics and Spatial Economy Regional patterns of rail accessibility/regional disparities in rail transport Compared to Britain, did French state intervention in the planning, financing, and implementation of rail expansion under the Freycenet Program reduce regional disparities in rail transport? State intervention to establish railways with little chance for profitability will be indicated the degree to which rail density and population density are positively associated.

8 Correlation: Population Density and Rail Density England and Wales 1870s France ca. 1890

9 Regional Disparities in Rail Transport,1890 Local Moran analysis of rail density by canton France 1890 England & Wales 1876 Red = clusters of high rail density Blue = clusters of low or negligible rail density

10 Spatial Regression Analysis England and Wales compared with France Model Rail Density = 1) population density + 2) ruggedness of terrain + 3) Rurality Country The Statistical Significance of population density at p.001 R-square of regression N. of Districts England & Wales Significant France Significant.38 2,356 Other parameters significant at p=.001 Britain: rurality France: ruggedness of terrain, rurality Parameters significant at p <=.05 Britain: ruggedness of terrain

11 Figure 4. The Growth of the French Secondary Rail Network Source: Ministère des Travaux Public, Statistique centrale des chemins de ferres français au 31 décembre France, voies ferrées d intérêt local, tramways, services subventionnés d automobiles (Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1935), p. 5.

12 Burgundy. Railways: Main Lines (red), Local lines (black)

13 Conclusion Geography mattered So did politics In France, state intervention, aimed at binding loyalties and modernizing a vast agrarian economy, resulted in expanded rail networks to reach remote, less profitable, destinations