Infrastructures and Regional Development- U.K. through Rail and Road Network
Introduction
Transportation system and the roads are considered to be the fundament key for any region’s development. These are the fundamental factors that are related to a nation’s economy. Transportation remarks development in a nation which attracts tourism and make a nation economical as well as globally strong. Transportation and roads give a significance of region’s productivity, competitiveness and shows a well-established market are with proper assess to inflow or outflow of the market materials. However, in some cases it is difficult to scrutinize the development of a region through region’s transportation system or infrastructure. Many economists have shown through their researches that transportation infrastructure is directly connected with economy i.e. per capita GDP that further adds up into normal economic growth of that region or nation. Among the different transport systems, rail and road networks are considered to be the basic requirement for development of any region as they provide accessibility to remote areas. The same is with the case of development of transportation infrastructure of UK. The correlation between economic development and transportation infrastructure in UK varies from region to region. In some regions transportation has led to the economic growth while in other regions economic growth is independent of such factors. Hence, there exist huge difference in terms ofregional development in UK.
Aims and Objectives:
Aim of the current research is:
- Primary aim of this dissertation is to scrutinize the interrelation between region’s development and transportation system of UK.
- To explain difference between developmental system of different regions in UK in the context of rail and road network.
Objectives:The objectives of the current report follow as:
- To evaluate the data of transport system of last decade of UK.
- To evaluate the data of regional development of UK of last decade.
- To compare the development of east, west, north and south regions of UK.
- To study and understand the relation of region’s development and transportation system in east, west, north and south part of UK.
Research questions:
- How can transportation infrastructure explain development in a region of UK?
- How both the factors, i.e. economy and transportation infrastructure affect each other?
Hypothesis
Hypothesis: Transportation infrastructure of UK evaluates difference of regional development in UK.
Alternative Hypothesis: Transportation infrastructure of UK does not explains any difference of regional development in UK.
Literature Review
Transportation infrastructure produces significant effect on regional development of UK. But UK’s economy is not working to its full ability. There is lack of guidance or strategies related to development of transportation infrastructure especially development of road and rail. Hence, instead of development of road and rail networks all over the country, northern region attain not much benefits due lack of better transportation system and its accessibility. Whereas southern region is developing at good pace due to the rail and road network. In fact the other regions of UK including south-east and south-west possess good progress due to accessibility of rail & road networks as compare to the northern region of UK. In order to attain regional development, a qualitative system of transportation should be there in the context of connectivity and travel speed.These factors further provide competitive advantage of a particular region over the other region in UK. Furthermore, investments for enhancing the location qualities and spatial development patterns also affects the conditions of transportation infrastructure.
In order to attain more accurate results and knowledge regarding this context, there is a need to take some major initiates of researches. And in this context or in response of this UK government has given commitment to introduce a report on economic development in the terms of impact of transportation over the economy of region (as per the review of regional and urban development studies best paper award 2014 and 2015)
Research Methodology
The statistical data related to rail and road network development in different regions of UK have been collected from different secondary sources that helped to represent the whole information in a tabular form. To give direction to the research work and interconnect theories and numerical facts, quantitative approach has been used. And to justify theories in the terms of numerical relationships, deductive method has been followed by the researcher. Moreover, the current research undertakes positivism research philosophy. The secondary data has been collected with the help of published papers of development in different regions of UK. This data helped to compare development of one region with another in the context of transportation system and economy.
References
Ec.europa.eu, (2015). Transport statistics at regional level – Statistics Explained. [online] Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Transport_statistics_at_regional_level [Accessed 17 Jul. 2015].
Ganser, R. and Piro, R. (2012). Parallel patterns of shrinking cities and urban growth. Farnham, Surrey, England: Ashgate.
REVIEW OF URBAN & REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT STUDIES BEST PAPER AWARD 2014. (2015). Review of Urban & Regional Development Studies, 27(1), pp.1-1.
Worldbank.org, (2015). Roads & Highways: Road Safety. [online] Available at: http://www.worldbank.org/transport/roads/safety.htm [Accessed 17 Jul. 2015].
Wu, J. (2012). Natural resources and sustainable development. Durnten-Zurich, Switzerland: TransTech Publications.