The impact of Belgian transport policy

In the course of the nineteenth century, Belgium underwent a radical transformation in terms of mobility. In barely half a century, mobility increased enormously with the advent of the railways and the expansion of the transport network. The role that the transport policy played in this transition has not yet been sufficiently studied. Historian Ingrid Schepers (University of Antwerp) investigates the connecting function of the Belgian railways by means of relational geography and combined various forms of mobility. She shows how much the transport policy was decisive for labour mobility and the complex relationship between city and countryside. For her research, she used commuter data and census data from LOKSTAT.

Article:

Ingrid Schepers. “Vertrekken, blijven of beide? De invloed van het Belgische transportbeleid op de arbeidsmobiliteit van de plattelandsbevolking tijdens de negentiende eeuw?”, in Stadsgeschiedenis, 16(2021), 1, 3-20.