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Source: adapted from Janelle, D.G. (1968) “Central Place Development in a Time-space Framework”, The Professional Geographer, Vol. 20, pp. 5-10. Data for 2000 and 2010 based on expedia.com direct scheduled flights. Space/time convergence has occurred between two city pairs, London and Edinburgh (located 520 km apart) and New York and

Transportation networks can be a factor of concentration. In the above figure, a transportation network links five locations: one hub and four feeders. Without trade, each location has the same importance. With trade, a process of geographical concentration becomes possible, which results in the development of a simple hierarchy consisting

Transportation can be a factor of specialization permitting locations to focus on activities for which they are the most productive. In the above figure, five locations are linked by a transportation network composed of one hub and four feeders. Without trade, each location has to produce the goods it requires.

Six core concepts relate the spatial structure and transportation:

The concepts of site and situation can be articulated over two core dimensions:

Since the earth is a sphere, the shortest path between two points is expressed by the great circle distance, which corresponds to an arc linking two points on a sphere. The circumference inferred from these two points divides the earth into two equal parts, thus the great circle. The great

Source: NASA’s Earth Observatory. Image acquired April 15, 2010. In April 2010, a volcanic eruption in Iceland released a large volume of ashes that spread toward Western Europe due to dominant wind patterns (see the above photo). Volcanic ash is composed of tiny jagged particles of rock, mostly silicates, which

Global wind patterns have both a historical and contemporary significance for transportation. Historically, wind patterns were linked with the trade routes of sailships. For instance, a relatively stable wind pattern over the North Atlantic enabled ships to set sail from Europe using the westbound dominant wind on the southern part

Wind is mainly the outcome of a thermodynamic principle and the Coriolis effect due to the counterclockwise rotation of the earth. Warm air around the equator is lifted, which creates a suction effect for air masses coming from higher (or lower) latitudes. The high-altitude air mass moves either north or

The geographical space of maritime transportation is primarily defined by its absolute barriers. 71% of the earth’s surface is covered by water, dominantly oceanic masses, but the profile of continental masses seriously constrains maritime access to different parts of the world. The maritime system can be summarized by four major