In many complex networks, the main task is to transfer load from sources to destinations. Therefore, the network throughput is a very important indicator to measure the network performance. In order to improve the network throughput, researchers have proposed many effective routing strategies. Spatial networks, as a class of complex networks, exist widely in the real-world. However, the existing routing strategies in complex networks cannot achieve good results when applied in spatial networks. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a new degree-location ([Formula: see text]) routing strategy to improve the throughput of spatial networks. In this routing strategy, the load transmitted from sources to destinations will bypass the nodes with high degrees and the nodes located close to the center of region. Simulations on homogeneous and heterogeneous spatial networks show that the [Formula: see text] routing strategy proposed in this paper can effectively improve the throughput of the network. The result of this paper can help the routing design of spatial networks and may find applications in many real-world spatial networks to improve the transmission performance.

With the rapid development of networks, the traffic in the networks has increased sharply, resulting in frequent congestion, especially in spatial networks, such as the railway network, aviation network, and sensor network, and congestion not only affects the user’s experience but also causes serious economic losses. Therefore, in this paper, we effectively identify the high-load nodes in spatial networks by considering harmony centrality and degree. On this basis, we design the HD routing strategy by avoiding these key nodes, which can enhance the traffic throughput of spatial networks efficiently. The results provide new ideas and directions for the design of routing strategies for spatial networks.