Complex networks to understand the past: the case of roads in Bourbon Spain
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Complex networks to understand the past: the case of roads in Bourbon Spain Federico Pablo‑Martí1,2 · Ángel Alañón‑Pardo3 · Angel Sánchez4,5,6 Received: 19 October 2019 / Accepted: 5 September 2020 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract The work aims to study, using GIS techniques and network analysis, the development of the road network in Spain during the period between the War of Succession and the introduction of the railway (1700–1850). Our research is based on a detailed cartographic review of maps made during the War of Succession, largely improving preexisting studies based on books of itineraries from the sixteenth century onwards. We build a new, complete map of the main roads at the beginning of the eighteenth century along with the matrix of transport costs for all the important towns describing the communications network. Our study of this complex network, supplemented by a counterfactual analysis carried out using a simulation model based on agents using different centralized decision-making processes, allows us to establish three main results. First, existing trade flows at the beginning of the eighteenth century had a radial structure, so the Bourbon infrastructure plan only consolidated a preexisting situation. Second, the development of the network did not suppose important alterations in the comparative centrality of the regions. Finally, the design of the paved road network was adequate for the economic needs of the country. These findings are in stark contrast with claims that the radial structure of the Bourbon roads was designed ex-novo with political or ideological objectives rather than economic ones. Our methodology paves the way to further studies of path-dependent, long-term processes of network design as the key to understanding the true origin of many currently existing situations. Keywords Road network · Spain · GIS · Agent based simulation JEL Classification C63 · C8 · N73 · R42
* Federico Pablo‑Martí [email protected] Extended author information available on the last page of the article
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1 Introduction 1.1 General context and applications Few historical processes are so relevant to understand our present as the design and temporal development of transport networks. As these are processes with a strong path dependence (David 1985), decisions that were made long ago continue to directly and intensely affect society in areas as diverse as economic growth (Peters 2003; Calderón and Servén 2004; Faber 2014), territorial cohesion (Badenoch 2010; Crescenzi and Rodríguez-Pose 2012; Monzon et al. 2019; Naranjo Gómez 2016), urban development (Weber 2012; Modarres and Dierwechter 2015) or electoral processes (Nall 2015, 2018). Consequently, knowledge of the motivations behind the implementation of the new transport infrastructures, of the economic and territorial effects they induced and of the adequacy of their design are therefore important focuses of attention not only for academic analysis but also f
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