Ingrid Schepers (UA) recently defended her doctoral dissertation on the impact of railways on labor mobility in Belgium. Her research reveals how the 19th-century, government-led railway infrastructure shaped the relationship between urban and rural areas. Belgium was a pioneer in developing a public railway network and promoting commuting by train. The government sought to ease urban overcrowding by improving connections between rural and urban regions. Affordable railway subscriptions made commuting a viable alternative to migration, but data from 1846-1961 shows that railway accessibility did not automatically lead to increased commuting. Besides transport, labor markets and economic structures played a crucial role. The study emphasizes that commuting policies should first be seen as an economic necessity before being considered a matter of spatial preferences. These findings are based on detailed analyses of railway infrastructure and commuting flows, made possible through extensive census data available via LOKSTAT.
Article:
Ingrid Schepers. “Mobilising labour: a spatial analysis of railway infrastructure, commuting flows and rural-urban relations in Belgium, 1846-1961”. Antwerp, PhD Dissertation, 2024, pp. 1-361.
DETAILS
Database used: LOKSTAT
Date: July 2024
Category: Scientific publication