The Evolution of Transportation (Myth20c - Ep258)

Estimates place the amount of the earth’s land area dedicated to buildings and other fixed structures to be no more than 3%. But of that land, nearly half is exclusive to roads and parking structures in some urban areas. This fact, obviously a consequence of the prevalence of the automobile, illustrates the importance of transportation, a key pillar to modern civilization. Connecting people, goods and services has always been important, but as the cost of movement has dropped and the speed has increased, the value of the network has only grown, which Metcalfe defined as proportional to the square of the nodes, or in this case, destinations. As technology pushes us farther and more safely, the era of globalization may very well extend beyond the globe and into the stars.

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Adam Smith and Hans Lander

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-- References --

- The Box, Levinson (2006)
- The Visible Hand: The Managerial Revolution in American Business, Myth of the 20th Century (2021) - https://myth20c.wordpress.com/2021/05/14/the-visible-hand-the-managerial-revolution-in-american-business/
- Cadillac Desert - The American West and Its Disappearing Water, Myth of the 20th Century (2022) - https://myth20c.wordpress.com/2022/08/30/cadillac-desert-the-american-west-and-its-disappearing-water/
- Essays on the History of Transportation and Technology, Kemp (2014)
- Geography of Transport Systems, 5th Edition, Rodrigue (2020)