ABSTRACT
Time-space compression refers to the compression of time and folding of space that occurs as new transportation and communications technologies accelerate velocities and bring places closer together in relational terms. Europe offers a prime example of this phenomenon. From high-speed trains to ultra-rapid trans-Atlantic flights, the continent”s geographies have been steadily reshaped. The process has been integral to the steady, if uneven, integration of the European Union. This chapter examines time-space compression in Europe in three ways. Firstly, it opens on an historical note: in the nineteenth century, railways shrank distances among cities with unprecedented speed, and the steamboat changed the Atlantic from an ocean to a lake. Secondly, it reviews the key role of high-speed trains: France”s Train à Grande Vitesse (TGV), which covers the 275 miles from Paris to Lyon in just two hours, operates at roughly 180 miles per hour; similar projects include Germany”s Neubaustrecke (NBS) and Spain”s Alta Velocidad Española (AVE); the British Inter-City 125 brought all of England within three hours of London. All of these generate new geographies of centrality and peripherality, for example by skipping over smaller intermediate nodes. Finally, the chapter turns to how globalisation has brought the world to Europe”s doorstep, and vice-versa, with examples such as Europe”s capital markets, foreign investment and the refugee crisis.
