1. Transportation in the Pre-Industrial Era (pre 1800s)
Transportation is closely linked with the process of globalization. Efficiently distributing freight and moving people has always been an important factor for maintaining the cohesion of economic systems from empires to modern nation states and economic blocs. With technological and economic developments, the means to achieve such a goal have evolved considerably with a series of historical revolutions and evolutions. It became possible to move people and cargoes faster, in greater volumes, over longer distances and more conveniently. This process is very complex and is related to the spatial evolution of economic systems and associated technical developments. It is possible to summarize this evolution, from the pre-industrial era to transportation in the early 21st century, in four major stages, each linked with specific technological innovations in the transport sector; the pre-industrial era, the industrial revolution, fordism and post-fordism (globalization).
Before the major technical transformations brought forward by the industrial revolution at the end of the 18th century, no forms of motorized transportation existed. Transport technology was mainly limited to harnessing animal labor for land transport and to wind for maritime transport. The transported quantities were very limited and so was the speed at which people and freight were moving. The average overland speed by horse, which was domesticated around 2,000 BC, was between 8 to 15 kilometers per hour and maritime speeds were barely above these figures. Also, a horse can only carry a load of about 125 kg while a camel can carry about 200 kg. Waterways were the most efficient transport systems available and cities next to rivers were able to trade over longer distances and maintain political, economic and cultural cohesion over a larger territory. It is not surprising to find that the first civilizations emerged along river systems for agricultural but also for trading purposes (Tigris-Euphrates, Nile, Indus, Ganges, Huang He). International trade did exist, but traded commodities were high-value (luxury) goods such as spices, silk, wine and perfume, notably along the Silk Road. Around the Mediterranean, the amphora permitted a form of intermodalism as an effective standard transport product of olive oil, grain or wine.
Because the efficiency of the land transport system of this era was poor, the overwhelming majority of trade was local in scope. Economies based on autonomy and basic subsistence could not generate much trade. Cities were located to take advantage of the defensible or commercial advantage of a location. From the perspective of regional economic organization, the provision of cities in perishable agricultural commodities was limited to a radius of about 50 kilometers, at most. The size of cities also remained unchanged in time. Since people can walk about 5 km per hour and that they are not willing to spend more than one hour per day walking, the daily space of interaction would be constrained by a 2.5 km radius, or about 20 square kilometers. Thus, most rural areas centered around a village and cities rarely exceeded a 5 km diameter. The largest cities prior to the industrial revolution, such as Rome, Beijing, Constantinople, or Venice never surpassed an area of 20 square kilometers. Large cities above 100,000 were very rare and those who exceed such a population did so because they were at the nexus of maritime and land trade networks.
Prior to the industrial revolution, it was difficult to speak of an urban system, but rather of a set of relatively self-sufficient economic systems with very limited trade. The preponderance of city-states during this period can a priori be explained by transportation, in particular the difficulties of shipping goods (therefore to trade) from one place to another. Among the most notable exceptions to this were the Roman and Chinese empires, which committed extraordinary efforts at building transportation networks and consequently maintained control over an extensive territory for a long time period.
The Roman Empire grew around an intricate network of coastal shipping and roads. Its road network supported a set of large cities around the Mediterranean basin. It also traded with India and China.
The Chinese Empire established an important fluvial transport network with several artificial canals connected together to form the Grand Canal. Some parts of it are still being used today.
The economic importance and the geopolitics of transportation were recognized very early, notably for maritime transportation since before the industrial revolution, it was the most convenient way to move freight and passengers around. Great commercial empires were established with maritime transportation. Initially, ships were propelled by rowers and sails were added around 2,500 BC as a complementary form of propulsion. By Medieval times, an extensive maritime trade network, the highways of the time, centered along the navigable rivers, canals, and coastal waters of Europe (and also China) was established. Shipping was extensive and sophisticated using the English Channel, the North Sea, the Baltic and the Mediterranean where the most important cities were coastal or inland ports (London, Norwich, Königsberg, Hamburg, Bruges, Bordeaux, Lyon, Lisbon, Barcelona, and Venice). Trade of bulk goods, such as grain, salt, wine, wool, timber and stone was taking place. By the 14th century galleys were finally replaced by full fledged sailships (the caravel and then the galleon) that were faster and required smaller crews. 1431 marked the beginning of the European expansion with the discovery by the Portuguese of the North Atlantic circular wind pattern, better known as the trade winds. A similar pattern was also found on the Indian and Pacific oceans with the monsoon winds.
The fall of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantium Empire (Eastern Roman Empire), to the Turks in 1453 disrupted the traditional land trade route from Europe to Asia. Europe was forced to find alternative maritime routes. One alternative, followed by Columbus in 1492, was to sail to the west and the other alternative, followed by Vasco de Gama in 1497, was to sail to the East. Columbus stumbled upon the American continent, while Gama found a maritime route to India using the Cape of Good Hope. These events were quickly followed by a wave of European exploration and colonization, initially by Spain and Portugal, the early maritime powers, then by Britain, France and the Netherlands. The traditional trade route to Asia no longer involved Italy (Venice) and Arabia, but involved direct maritime connections from ports such as Lisbon and Amsterdam. European powers were able to master the seas with larger, better armed and more efficient sailing ships and thus were able to control international trade and colonization. Private charter companies, such as the Dutch East India Company, were agents initially used to establish maritime trading networks that spanned the world. By the early 18th century, most of the world's territories were controlled by Europe, providing wealth and markets to their thriving metropolises through a system of colonial trade.
Prior to the industrial revolution, the quantity of freight transported between nations was negligible by contemporary standards. For instance, during the Middle Ages, the totality of French imports via the Saint-Gothard Passage (between Italy and Switzerland) would not fill a freight train. The amount of freight transported by the Venetian fleet, which dominated Mediterranean trade for centuries, would not fill a modern container ship. The volume, but not the speed of trade improved under mercantilism (15th to 18th century), notably for maritime transportation. In spite of all, distribution capacities were very limited and speeds slow. For example, a stage coach going through the English countryside in the 16th century had an average speed of two miles per hour; moving one ton of cargo 30 miles (50 km) inland in the United States by the late 18th century was as costly as moving it across the Atlantic. The inland transportation system was thus very limited, both for passengers and freight. By the late 18th century, canal systems started to emerge in Europe, initially in the Netherlands and England. They permitted the beginning of large movements of bulk freight inland and expanded regional trade. Maritime and fluvial transportation were consequently the dominant modes of the pre-industrial era.