High Speed Railway Station: Mobility and Spatial Dynamics in Germany and Spain
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Global JournJournaal of HUMAN-SOCIAL SCIENCE: B Geography, Geoo-Sciences, Environmental DisasDisastterer Management Volume 14 Issue 2 Versionersion 1.0 Year 2014 Type: Double Blind Peereer Reviewed International Research Journal Publisher: Global JoJouurnalsrnals Inc. (USA) Online ISSN: 2249-460x60x & Print ISSN: 0975-587X High Speed Railway SStStation:tatiation: Mobility and Spatial DynamicsDynamicsynamics in Germany and Spain By Carmen Mota & CCeecciliailia Ribalaygua UniversidadUniversidad de CastCastilillala La Mancha, Spain Abstract- This paper contains certcertaainin considerations on the HighHigh-SpeedSpeed RailwaRailway (HSR) Station’s areaarea and its surroundings, as well aass the reasons and effects thereof. The complexitycocommplexityplexity and wide rrangeange of possible scenarios requirequirre a more specific ccontextontext pertaining to mmeediumdium-sized cities aandnd a specific location of the statiostationn in those cities, i.e., the city centre. From the analysis based oonn the fieldwork carried out in certain stationsstations in Germany, as wwellell as from the study of their accessibility llevel,evel, German cases are compared to other examples iinn Europe, especially to examples iinn a country in which HSR was implemented atat the same time: Spain. ItIt can be concluded that ththerethereere are material differences on the ways toto approach the revitalisation of stationsationsations and the uurbanrban surroundings thereof in order to take advantageadvantage of the building’sbuilding’s renovation project and thtthehe reorganisation of the railway environmentenvironment as an important engine of urban renovation. Keywords: highhigh speed rail impacimpactimpacts,ts,s, station area development, transit orientedorienorientetedd design, urban ddesign,esign, urban regeneration, statiostationn area regeneration, highhigh-speedspeed rail (HSR) ststaation.tion. GJHSS-B Classification : FOR CodeCode:: 040699p HighSpeedHighSpeedRRailwayStationMobilityandSpatialDynamicsinGerailwayStationMobilityandSpatialDynamicsinGermaann yyandSpain a n d StrStricttlyly asas perper thethe compliancecomplianc and regulations of: © 2014. Carmen Mota & Cecilia RibalayguRibalayguaa. ThisThis is a research/review paper, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NoncommercialNoncommercial 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/byhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/nc/33.0/).0/), permitting all non- commercialcommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in anyany medium, provided the original work is properly citedcited.. High Speed Railway Station: Mobility and Spatial Dynamics in Germany and Spain Carmen Mota α & Cecilia Ribalaygua σ Abstract- This paper contains certain considerations on the This is precisely the strategic point of the High-Speed Railway (HSR) Station’s area and its subject of this paper, through an approach to four cases surroundings, as well as the reasons and effects thereof. The in Europe: Fulda and Ulm in Germany and Toledo and complexity and wide range of possible scenarios require a Lerida in Spain. more specific context pertaining to medium-sized cities and a specific location of the station in those cities, i.e., the city II. The High-speed Railway Station: A 2014 centre. From the analysis based on the fieldwork carried out link between the Network and the Year in certain stations in Germany, as well as from the study of City their accessibility level, German cases are compared to other 47 examples in Europe, especially to examples in a country in Despite the fact that new transport systems are which HSR was implemented at the same time: Spain. developed with a unimodal logic, in sight of the attempt It can be concluded that there are material to prioritise its competition compared to other transport differences on the ways to approach the revitalisation of modes, High-Speed Rail’s degree of territorial stations and the urban surroundings thereof in order to take consumption is as high as that of other controlled advantage of the building’s renovation project and the reorganisation of the railway environment as an important access infrastructures, which strengthens the centrality of those locations served -separated by big distances engine of urban renovation. as per the infrastructure’s own definition- but does not Keywords: high speed rail impacts, station area development, transit oriented design, urban design, imply any advantages whatsoever. Under this urban regeneration, station area regeneration, high- circumstance, known as “tunnel effect”, [1, 2, 3], many scholars, [4, 5, 6], have historically found the threat of a speed rail (HSR) station. source of territorial unbalance that polarises space and I. Introduction establishes hierarchies within the cities system, and has ecades of experience in the implementation of become a matter of concern even during the first year of ) B ( high-speed rail have resulted in expertise thanks this mode’s implementation in Europe, as shown in the Volume XIV Issue II Version I Dto which a position within the framework of the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP), cities served can be adopted. On the contrary, critics which identifies the risks and warns on the importance underline the (selective) boosting of the transport of planning and coordination with other networks: system, the effects of polarisation, the comparative “Spatial development policy should work abandonment of regional railways or the over sizing of towards having high-quality transport infrastructure - the HSR station area and the surrounding developments supplemented by secondary networks to bring about thereof. The effects are thus highly heterogeneous and their positive effects in the regions”, [7]. sometimes they do not only depend on development This way, through the existence and and planning activities, but also on traditional models in coordination of secondary, the network’s polarising the context of planning and mobility of each country’s effects are not only mitigated but their capacity makes reality. While the potential to gain ridership is certainly the convergence of greater volumes of traffic to the not the only factor in a project’s success (the ability to largest networks possible, which brings about benefits secure funding, maintain local support, and overcome through their profitability and in time leads to a cost- design and engineering challenges is equally critical), benefit compensation resulting in the service’s ridership demand is important enough to be used as a improvement by means of benefits, destinations and Global Journal of Human Social Science preliminary screen of a proposed project’s utility. schedules. De Rus et al [8]. Projected ridership is one way to measure whether rail Due to the foregoing and despite the fact that a services can realize their potential benefits, including traditional perspective would implicitly assign a crucial gains in energy efficiency, economic productivity, role to technological innovation applied to the reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and others. revolutionary mean of transport as a driver of Author α: Department of Civil Engineering and Building Construction, development, with the danger of accepting this University of Castilla-La Mancha, Spain. technological determinism as well as perceiving spatial e-mail: [email protected] and territorial developments as a simple reaction Author σ : Department of Geography and Town Plannig. University of Cantabria, Spain. e-mail: [email protected] against the technological conditions and the potentials ©2014 Global Journals Inc. (US) High Speed Railway Station: Mobility and spatial dynamics in Germany and Spain thereof Luhmann [9], the planning process is essential IV. Methodology to turn associated risks thereto into opportunities. In this context, the high-speed railway station and its Firstly, medium-sized cities with the station surroundings have different functions within the city they located in the centre thereof have been chosen within a serve and turn into its most relevant spot since it is a link wide range of possibilities when choosing the case between the networks(s): spaces with a high study, since the integration of high-speed rail is more accessibility potential, new exhibition pieces where weighable in this kind of cities, Burckhart [10] -where functions, activities and facilities are amalgamated, their implementation of high-speed rail has a dramatic impact regeneration being the flagship of urban planning in on accessibility [11, 12]- than in bigger ones that many cities served by HSR. already have access to a previously implemented Rail stations will differ depending on their intermodality, leading to shared effects. In addition, location — downtown, airport transfer, suburban, and countries where high-speed rail has been implemented small town. While every station area is unique and for more than twenty years have been chosen; these should reflect local context, culture and climate, some cities are located in countries where there is not only a 2014 common principles apply to the creation of forms and historical urban planning tradition administratively implemented in the field of physical planning but also Year public spaces regardless of location. This document offers such principles along with different strategies for with a historical spatial tradition acting as a link between 48 the creation of places that invite people to stay and economic and social planning. enjoy, and that enhance the economy