ABSTRACT
For many years there has been an implicit assumption that there is a link between transport and development, and in many cases this link has been seen as a positive and causal one. Those countries, regions or cities which attract a high proportion of transport investment will have a competitive advantage over those locations which have been less successful in obtaining investment. These arguments certainly go back to the 1960s with the debates over whether transport was a prerequisite for economic development (Rostow, 1960) or whether it was a consequence of development (Fogel, 1964). The debate is still raging and the chapters in this book have given a strong flavour of the latest thinking on the issues. The focus of the debate has moved away from the macroeconomic arguments over economic growth at the national and regional scale towards the more local scale urban effects of transport investment. In the introduction, ten key issues were identified as questions and issues for debate (table 20.1). All of these issues can be subsumed under the four headings which form the main conclusions from this book. In the summary we discuss each of them in turn-accessibility (table 20.1, points 1, 2 and 3); the importance of transport in the development process (table 20.1, point 4); financing of infrastructure (table 20.1, points 5 and 6); and forecasting and evaluation (table 20.1, points 7, 8 and 9). The final issue on technological change cuts across all of these issues.
