Accessibility and economic development in Europe

There is continuing debate on the role of transport infrastructure and changes in accessibility on regional economic development. The emphasis in recent European Union policy on the development of trans-European Networks (TENs) provides a focus for a re-evaluation. Much of the debate assumes that improvements in accessibility will lead to economic development and, by implication, to greater cohesion. This paper identifies some of the major difficulties in defining a simple measure of accessibility for use in such studies and proceeds to evaluate new measures of time-space and accessibility surfaces which allow for greater disaggregation at a spatial and sectoral level. An assessment of the implications for regional development in the EU is then made. The conclusions cast doubt on die ability of TENs to promote greater convergence in both accessibility and economic development.