GEOG 2200 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Malcom Mclean, Neoliberalism, World-Systems Theory
Document Summary
Two basic sets of factors that drive connectivity. The enabling environment for increased global connections which are organised around neoliberalism. Improvements in transportation have promoted increased interaction between places and people over wider areas throughout the history of humankind. It led to an ever-increasing diversity of goods traded as well. Prior to the development of railroads, overland transportation of heavy/bulky goods was slow and costly, limiting such trade to luxury goods of high value (spices, precious metals, stones) The movement of heavy raw materials by water was much cheaper and so most of the world"s commerce became focussed on water transportation. This led to emergence of maritime cities - ports - as centres of wealth, power and influence. An important point to keep in mind is this: each new advancement - each form of transportation technology - creates new geographies and replaces (eliminates) existing ones. We can travel faster to more places in the world today than ever before.
