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‘M4 to Wales - and prosper!’ A history of a motorway

Martin Johnes Orcid Logo

Historical Research, Volume: 87, Issue: 237, Pages: 556 - 573

Swansea University Author: Martin Johnes Orcid Logo

DOI (Published version): 10.1111/1468-2281.12055

Abstract

The M4 is integral to the south Wales economy, shapes the area's mental geography and contributes to the sense people in and outside Wales have of the Welsh nation being somewhere that is both part of Britain but at the same time ‘other’. Moreover, the motorway's history is the history of...

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Published in: Historical Research
Published: 2014
Online Access: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1468-2281.12055/pdf
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa17492
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Abstract: The M4 is integral to the south Wales economy, shapes the area's mental geography and contributes to the sense people in and outside Wales have of the Welsh nation being somewhere that is both part of Britain but at the same time ‘other’. Moreover, the motorway's history is the history of modern Wales: a reliance on the state, tensions over nationalism, administrative devolution and regional rivalries, the marginalization of working-class communities and the emphasis on economic integration with the rest of the U.K. This article explores these dynamics by looking at the Welsh stretch of the M4's political, economic and cultural origins, development and impacts.
Keywords: roads, Wales, national identity
College: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Issue: 237
Start Page: 556
End Page: 573