Historical economic geography

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Historical economic geography examines the history and development of spatial economic structure. Using historical data, it examines how centers of population and economic activity shift, what patterns of regional specialization and localization evolve over time and what factors explain these changes.

Examples

The first major societies grew in regions with reliable access to arable land, water for irrigation and access to domesticated crops.

The Industrial Revolution began in towns in Britain that were close to flowing rivers that easily accessed surface coal deposits that provided cheap energy along with access to trafficable rivers to transport their goods. This made them an ideal locations for the first factories.

Most major cities have developed on major trade routes. Many cities have grown around major harbours, such as London and New York City, Singapore and Guangzhou. Many major inland cities such as Paris and Moscow grew on rivers that served as trade routes.

Since the industrial revolution, many cities have grown in response to access to man made transport hubs. Manchester grew rapidly as an industrial centre following the construction of a canal to the ocean. Chicago grew around a short channel that linked Lake Michigan with a tributary of the Mississippi River.

Containerisation has caused large changes in transport networks and in manufacturing. In the 1960s, container trade overtook traditional break bulk shipping. This caused a massive change in the nature of ports, away from the waterfront communities built around docks and dock workers, towards centralised container terminals. [1]

Some cities fates have changed in response to the development of transport technology. Buffalo was once the 8th largest city in the United States of America, largely due to its location on the Erie Canal. However it declined when it was bypassed by the St Lawrence Seaway. Detroit grew as a major cluster of automotive businesses at a time when there were significant economies related to clustering businesses together. It went into decline when containerisation made dispersed production cheaper as manufacturers were able to efficiently and effectively source their components from remote suppliers.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maritime transport</span> Transport of people or goods via waterways

Maritime transport or more generally waterborne transport, is the transport of people (passengers) or goods (cargo) via waterways. Freight transport by sea has been widely used throughout recorded history. The advent of aviation has diminished the importance of sea travel for passengers, though it is still popular for short trips and pleasure cruises. Transport by water is cheaper than transport by air or ground, but significantly slower for longer distances. Maritime transport accounts for roughly 80% of international trade, according to UNCTAD in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Containerization</span> Intermodal freight transport system

Containerization is a system of intermodal freight transport using intermodal containers. Containerization, also referred as container stuffing or container loading, is the process of unitization of cargoes in exports. Containerization is the predominant form of unitization of export cargoes, as opposed to other systems such as the barge system or palletization. The containers have standardized dimensions. They can be loaded and unloaded, stacked, transported efficiently over long distances, and transferred from one mode of transport to another—container ships, rail transport flatcars, and semi-trailer trucks—without being opened. The handling system is mechanized so that all handling is done with cranes and special forklift trucks. All containers are numbered and tracked using computerized systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manchester Ship Canal</span> UK canal linking Manchester to the coast

The Manchester Ship Canal is a 36 mi-long (58 km) inland waterway in the North West of England linking Manchester to the Irish Sea. Starting at the Mersey Estuary at Eastham, near Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, it generally follows the original routes of the rivers Mersey and Irwell through the historic counties of Cheshire and Lancashire. Several sets of locks lift vessels about 60 ft (18 m) to the canal's terminus in Manchester. Landmarks along its route include the Barton Swing Aqueduct, the world's only swing aqueduct, and Trafford Park, the world's first planned industrial estate and still the largest in Europe.

Container ship Ship that carries cargo in intermodal containers

A container ship is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermodal freight transport and now carry most seagoing non-bulk cargo.

The Port of London is that part of the River Thames in England lying between Teddington Lock and the defined boundary with the North Sea and including any associated docks. Once the largest port in the world, it was the United Kingdom's largest port as of 2020. Usage is largely governed by the Port of London Authority ("PLA"), a public trust established in 1908; while mainly responsible for coordination and enforcement of activities it also has some minor operations of its own.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port Newark–Elizabeth Marine Terminal</span> Major component of the Port of New York and New Jersey

Port Newark–Elizabeth Marine Terminal, a major component of the Port of New York and New Jersey, is the principal container ship facility for goods entering and leaving the New York metropolitan area and the northeastern quadrant of North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dockworker</span> Occupation of loading and unloading ships

A dockworker is a waterfront manual laborer who loads and unloads ships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port of Felixstowe</span> UK container port in Felixstowe

The Port of Felixstowe, in Felixstowe, Suffolk, is the United Kingdom's largest container port, dealing with 48% of Britain's containerised trade. In 2017, it was ranked as 43rd busiest container port in the world and 8th in Europe, with a handled traffic of 3.85 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU). In 2019 it was ranked the UKs 7th busiest port.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port of Singapore</span> Port in Singapore

The Port of Singapore is the collection of facilities and terminals that conduct maritime trade and handle Singapore's harbours and shipping. It has been ranked as the top maritime capital of the world, since 2015. Currently the world's second-busiest port in terms of total shipping tonnage, it also transships a fifth of the world's shipping containers, half of the world's annual supply of crude oil, and is the world's busiest transshipment port. It was also the busiest port in terms of total cargo tonnage handled until 2010, when it was surpassed by the Port of Shanghai.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port of Melbourne</span> Port

The Port of Melbourne is the largest port for containerised and general cargo in Australia. It is located in Melbourne, Victoria, and covers an area at the mouth of the Yarra River, downstream of Bolte Bridge, which is at the head of Port Phillip, as well as several piers on the bay itself. Since 1 July 2003, the Port of Melbourne has been managed by the Port of Melbourne Corporation, a statutory corporation created by the State of Victoria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Short-sea shipping</span> Movement of cargo and passengers by sea along a coast, without crossing an ocean

The modern terms short-sea shipping, marine highway and motorways of the sea, as well as the more historical terms coastal trade, coastal shipping, coasting trade and coastwise trade, all encompass the movement of cargo and passengers mainly by sea along a coast, without crossing an ocean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port of Halifax</span> Canadian seaport

The Port of Halifax comprises various port facilities in Halifax Harbour in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It covers 10 km2 (3.9 sq mi) of land, and looks after 150 km2 (58 sq mi) of water.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malcom McLean</span> Transport entrepreneur who developed the modern intermodal shipping container

Malcom Purcell McLean was an American businessman who invented the modern intermodal shipping container, which revolutionized transport and international trade in the second half of the twentieth century. Containerization led to a significant reduction in the cost of freight transportation by eliminating the need for repeated handling of individual pieces of cargo, and also improved reliability, reduced cargo theft, and cut inventory costs by shortening transit time. Containerization is a major driver of globalization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shipping line</span> Business that transports cargo aboard ships

A shipping line or shipping company is a company whose line of business is ownership and operation of ships.

The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger is a non-fiction book by Marc Levinson charting the historic rise of the intermodal container and how it changed the economic landscape of the global economy. The New York Times called it "a smart, engaging book".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of transport in China</span>

Since 2018, transport occupied a relatively low priority in China's national development. In the twenty-five years that followed the founding of the People's Republic in 1949, China's transportation network was built into a partially modern but somewhat inefficient system. The drive to modernize the transport system, that began in 1978, required a sharp acceleration in investment. Though despite increased investment and development in the 1980s, the transport sector was strained by the rapid expansion of production and the exchange of goods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port of Melbourne Corporation</span>

The Port of Melbourne Corporation (PoMC) is a statutory body established by the Victorian Government to develop and manage the Port of Melbourne, Australia's busiest container port. The Corporation commenced operations on 1 July 2003, when it took over the management of the port from the Melbourne Port Corporation. On 1 September 2010, the corporation was re-established with a new charter under the Transport Integration Act.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breakbulk cargo</span> Shipping goods that are loaded individually

In shipping, break-bulk, breakbulk, or break bulk cargo, also called general cargo, is goods that are stowed on board ships in individually counted units. Traditionally, the large numbers of items are recorded on distinct bills of lading that list them by different commodities. This is in contrast to cargo stowed in modern intermodal containers as well as bulk cargo, which goes directly, unpackaged and in large quantities, into a ship's hold(s), measured by volume or weight.

The economic history of the world encompasses the development of human economic activity throughout time. It has been estimated that throughout prehistory, the world average GDP per capita was about $158 per annum, and did not rise much until the Industrial Revolution. Cattle were probably the first object or physical thing specifically used in a way similar enough to the modern definition of money, that is, as a medium for exchange.

A shipping container is a container with strength suitable to withstand shipment, storage, and handling. Shipping containers range from large reusable steel boxes used for intermodal shipments to the ubiquitous corrugated boxes. In the context of international shipping trade, "container" or "shipping container" is virtually synonymous with "intermodal freight container", a container designed to be moved from one mode of transport to another without unloading and reloading.

References

  1. Levinson, Marc. "Sample Chapter for Levinson, M.: The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger". The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger . Princeton University Press. Archived from the original on 22 January 2013. Retrieved 17 February 2013.