Connectivity and Isolation in Transport Networks: A Policy Scenario Experiment for the Greek Island Economy

In the past decade the spatial-industrial organization of modern economies tends increasingly towards a multi-actor and multi-modal network configuration, in which free access and competition are becoming dominant features (Cuadrado- Roura et al. 1994; Nijkamp 1994; Porter 1989). In recent policy documents of the European Union it is taken for granted that the development of the European continent is shaped through a complex interplay of a networked physical space (composed of an open multi-regional system) and a multi-layer socio-economic structure (featuring open access and free competition), witness also the plans for the T.E.N. (Trans-European Networks) system. The drive towards a network economy — as a catalyst for accelerated economic growth — has been favoured by drastic changes in telecommunication and information technology (Capello 1994), including the use of advanced logistics and electronic data transmission.