The Orderliness Hypothesis: Does Population Density Explain the Sequence of Rail Station Opening in London?

Network growth is a complex phenomenon; some researchers have suggested that it occurs in an orderly or rational way, based on the size of places that are connected. This paper examines the order in which stations were added to the London surface rail and Underground rail networks in the 19th and 20th centuries, testing to what extent that order was correlated with population density. While population density is an important factor in explaining order, this research shows that other factors are at work. The network itself helps to reshape land uses, and a network that may have been well ordered at one time, may drift away from order as activities relocate.