In their recent article, Markus Lambracht and Dominik Bertram analyse how topographical specificities relate to accessibility and socioeconomic development in the European Alps. The article is published in Europa XXI.
The article highlights the relation of topography, accessibility of centres and highway ramps, as well as socioeconomic indicators, drawing on data for the area of the EU Macroregional Strategy for the Alpine Region (EUSALP). The study applies the perspective on Topographic Potential Area (TPA), representing land with a theoretic/technical suitability for settlement and construction. The empirical findings show that topographic conditions alone are not suitable to explain spatial developments. Accessibility is linked to topographic conditions, whereas socioeconomic development does not correlate with topography nor accessibility.
Instead, the role of factors such as, for example, governance frameworks, historical path dependencies and local tacit knowledge are relevant. The study concludes that mountain topography can impact for example transport infrastructure development, but that socioeconomic patterns emerge from a complex interplay of multiple influences.
To cite this article: Lambracht, M. & Bertram, D. (2027). Navigating mountains: topography, accessibility, and socioeconomic development in the European Alps. Europa XXI, 52. https://doi.org/10.7163/Eu21.2027.52.1
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