Transportation and Geography: The Literature Survey of Transportation Geography in Turkey
Abstract
Transportation can be defined as the activity of transporting passengers, goods and services from one place to another by means of a variety of vehicles. Over time, it has reached a great extent and diversity in terms of the relevant vehicles, the systems where these vehicles work together and the settings where transportation is used.
The efforts to get to know their environment and to utilize it efficiently have led people to strive for access to places both near and distant. Historically, such endeavors resulted in the geographical explorations around the globe. The transportation facilities, which had previously enabled the discovery of the world, play a similar role today paving the way for the discovery of the universe.
Far beyond a simple economic activity, transportation must be considered as a strategic area of policy demanding increased investment from governments for its role in shaping all other economic sectors and habitats.
The Anatolian peninsula has historically served as an intersection point for transportation due to its geographical position and it has constituted one of the main routes for important trade networks. This region continues to carry significance in international transportation to this day.
Transportation activities that are carried out over the physical environment thus fall under the scope of geography, which is a study of the relationship between human beings and their landscape.
This study aims to analyze the studies of geographers in the Republican Period on transportation geography in terms of their format, content and conclusions. The main objective is to introduce the development of this field from the perspective of geographers and to contribute to the formation of a literature on these works.
Keywords: Transportation, Geography, Turkey, Literature, Analysis.
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