Arnold Bennett, transport and urban development

Abstract

ABSTRACTLiterary geography, pioneered in the first half of the twentieth century, is now a well-established field of research. English novelist and journalist Arnold Bennett is one of many literary artists whose works have been studied by geographers. This article examines Bennett's writings in order to explore how changing modes and spatial patterns of transport influence landscape, land use and urban morphology. It demonstrates his geographical understanding of the role and influence of transport in regional development and on the landscape, thus emphasising Bennett's ability to describe and explain these phenomena using the trained sensibilities of the novelist. Examples are drawn from Bennett's native Potteries district and from other areas familiar to him, both in England and on the European continent.