Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
4
Before mass motorisation
The period to 1955
4.1 Introduction
As noted in Part 1, the 1950s marked the time when the motor car began to
assume dominance as a form of transport and when public policy began to give
serious consideration to the remodelling of the nation's transport networks and
the redevelopment of urban areas to accommodate car use on a mass scale. It may
therefore seem unnecessary to learn about the period before in order to understand
our contemporary situation.
In fact the first half of the 20th century and earlier contributed to our present
legacy in three main respects:
Physically
• The centres of most towns and cities and the patterning of inner urban areas
derives from before the advent of the motor vehicle, even if many of the
individual buildings have been redeveloped or added to since. Almost the whole
of the railway network utilised and available to us today - that is the pattern of
routes and the location of stations - is the product of the 19th century. Except for
the national motorways and a relatively small length of other wholly new roads,
the roads and settlements which form the core components of today's spatial
structure are the product of the era before mass motorisation.
Institutionally
• Long before the motor vehicle, the State had had to address issues raised by the
development of transport infrastructure and the operation of transport industries.
The nature of the legislation that was passed and the institutions and procedures
it brought into being are the foundation of many such features today. For example
the idea that 'transport' should be institutionalised as an activity meriting a
separate Government department derives from 1910 and - a veritable mixed
blessing - is still with us a century later.
Culturally
• The historic notion of a 'public right of way' and the associated freedom of
movement is of immense political and practical significance. It means that any
 
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