Nature’s order? Questioning causality in the modelling of transport networks

•Several studies naturalise the development of infrastructure networks.•The growth of the Belgian motorway network is used as a case study.•The underlying principles of natural science-inspired models need to be uncovered.•The distinction made between ‘politics’ and ‘rational factors’ seems untenable.•Recent uses of natural science metaphors fit well with Hayekian decentral planning.