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Thespoke–hub distribution paradigm (also known as thehub-and-spoke system) is a form oftransport topology optimization in whichtraffic planners organize routes as a series of "spokes" that connect outlying points to a central "hub". Simple forms of this distribution/connection model contrast withpoint-to-point transit systems, in which each point has a direct route to every other point, and which modeled the principal method of transporting passengers and freight until the 1970s.Delta Air Lines pioneered the spoke–hub distribution model in 1955.[1] In the late 1970s thetelecommunications andinformation technology sector subsequently adopted this distribution topology, dubbing it thestar network network topology.
"Hubbing" involves "the arrangement of a transportation network as a hub-and-spoke model".[2]
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In 1955, Delta Air Lines pioneered the hub-and-spoke system at its hub inAtlanta,Georgia,[3] in an effort to compete withEastern Air Lines. In the mid-1970sFedEx adopted the hub-and-spoke model for overnight package delivery. After the airline industry wasderegulated in 1978, several other airlines adopted Delta's hub-and-spoke paradigm.
Airlines have extended the hub-and-spoke model in various ways. One method is to create additional hubs on a regional basis and to create major routes between them. That reduces the need to travel long distances between nodes near one another. Another method is to usefocus cities to implement point-to-point service for high-traffic routes and to bypass the hub entirely.
The spoke–hub model is applicable to other forms of transportation as well:
For passengerroad transport, the spoke–hub model does not apply because drivers generally take the shortest or fastest route between two points. However, the road network as a whole likewise contains higher order roads likelimited access highways and more local roads with most trips starting and ending at the latter but spending most of the distance on the former.
The hub-and-spoke model has also been used in economic geography theory to classify a particular type of industrial district. Economic geographer Ann Markusen theorized about industrial districts, with a number of key industrial firms and facilities acting as a hub, with associated businesses and suppliers benefiting from their presence and arranged around them like the spokes of a wheel. The chief characteristic of such hub-and-spoke industrial districts is the importance of one or more large companies, usually in one industrial sector, surrounded by smaller, associated businesses. Examples of cities with such districts includeSeattle (whereBoeing was founded),Silicon Valley (a high tech hub), andToyota City, withToyota.
In the context of East Asian geopolitics,Victor Cha says the hub-and-spokes paradigm refers to the network of alliances the United States has built individually with other East Asian countries. The 1951Security Treaty Between the United States and Japan, the 1953U.S.–South Korea Status of Forces Agreement and the 1954Mutual Defense Treaty between the United States and the Republic of China (later replaced by theTaiwan Relations Act) are some examples of such bilateral security relationships.[4] The system creates a bilateral security architecture in East Asia that is different from the multilateral security architecture in Europe. The US acts as a "hub", and Asian countries likeSouth Korea andJapan are its "spokes". There is a strong connection between the hub and the spoke, but weak or no connections between the spokes themselves.[5]
In April 2014, all tenASEAN defense chiefs andUnited States Secretary of DefenseChuck Hagel attended the US–ASEAN Defense Forum in Hawaii. The meeting was the first time the US hosted the forum and was part of a US attempt to get the countries to strengthen military ties between themselves.[6]
