Borders between countries present several scenarios with wide variations affected by political, economic, geographic, and strategic states. However, these borders are also embodied by visible and invisible forces
(i.e. nature,  infrastructure, policies, social perceptions, etc.) which shape the way people move across spaces and vice versa.

In this project, we examine the European Union as a terrain that has undergone phases from enforced borders to open borders strategies. The Schengen Zone is designed to accelerate economic development towards prosperity, thus changing the perception of ‘territory’.

It is not just political or physical borders that determine territorial movement, but also the policies and infrastructures that allow people to transcend borders towards increased mobility. This map displays the intersection of selected transportation networks normally used to move from a geographic area to another: airports, ports, and railways. 

Major airports with higher flows of people are highlighted: Heathrow, Frankfurt, Charles de Gaulle, and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. Some airports in Europe are providing the AirPass service to frequent travelers and passengers in order to facilitate mobility inter-and intra- major cities and countries to expand beyond country borders. With the use of the ArcMap multi-ring buffer tool, we were able to highlight the aggregate distribution and variation of AirPass users in proximity to Frankfurt and Heathrow Airports. As our project examines different mobility patterns to and from Germany, we focused on showing the variation in density of AirPass holders within the radius of Frankfurt Airport. 

This example illustrates the infrastructural interventions and policy strategies that incentivize people’s mobility.

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Data sources:

Airports and Ports: Eurostat, GISCO, Geodata; September 2013; ArcGIS - Accessed November 14, 2018
Railway Network: Open Street Map, Geodata; 2013 - Accessed November 13, 2018