3.6 Conclusions
Locational models of route structure are among the most poorly developed areas of locational analysis.
Despite their evident importance in determining the configuration of many aspects of human settlement, the study of transport networks stands somewhat apart from the other topics covered in Part One of this book.
Much of the little theory available comes from the mathematical models developed for network optimization.
While these are formal and rigorous in structure, they tend to break down in two situations of special interest to the geographer:
(a) where the network itself has a complex spatial structure, and (b) where there are multivariate forces at work on shaping its locational pattern. Later in the book, we shall encounter avenues along which networks are currently being explored, e.g. via diffusion models (see Section 7.5), via improvements in spatial definition (see Section 9.7) and via linear programming (see Section 15.4.2).