Latin America’s Transportation Conundrum

Transportation is fundamental to the development of Latin America, yet little attention has been paid to its role in shaping modern societies by geographers generally or by Latin Americanist geographers in particular. To understand why such a research lacunae exists, this article reviews the literature on Latin America’s transportation geography to shed light on the key theories and methodologies that are shaping contemporary analyses and to highlight the gaps in research. It then examines the relationship between transportation and development in Latin America to tease out how a more focused and nuanced appreciation of this interconnection might help to enrich our understanding of the region. Finally, several strategies for future research on transport-development relationships are presented. The region could benefit from a new wave of research on accessibility and mobility that might help Latin Americans build the necessary infrastructure to meet the challenges of the 21^st century with optimism and equality.