At the cradle of the transport revolution? Paved roads, traffic flows and economic development in eighteenth-century Brabant

摘要

In recent years the contribution of transport improvements in the period prior to the famous 'transport revolution' has been subjected to re-assessment. Whereas economic historians especially looked for signs of productivity changes and market integration engendered by improvements such as the construction of turnpike roads, this article focuses on the output of the transport sector as measured by traffic volume estimates and their relationship to economic growth. For the majority of Brabant, eighteenth-century paved roads bareer receipts offer excellent sources for the assessment of road transport in a core area of a densely populated and urbanized region in northwestern Europe. Throughout the eighteenth century road transport contributed to the growth of the Brabantine economy, although the underlying bases of the transport sector varied greatly in time.