The Landscape of Transportation Nodes: A Design Statement for the Regeneration of Abandoned Railway Landscapes through Case Studies

Year 2023, Volume: 9 Issue: 1, 1 - 26, 30.06.2023

Bilge Kobak

Abstract

Transportation nodes of urban landscapes such as airports, railways and ports have great potential since they are one of the major systems that shape the cities. Analysing their use through time and seeing how they were shaping the cities gives us the design principles to be considered for the transformation process into a public place after their abandonment. It is complex to plan their design, but the before-during-after processes should be acknowledged while dealing with a node of transportation. Referred sites are no longer just functional elements of the transport system but they also act as mixed-use urban nodes. Hence, they require a broader approach and broader urban planning strategies considering the future scenarios. This paper proposes a categorization of industrial areas that are a part of transportation systems and ultimately defines a design statement for abandoned railway landscapes through international case studies. The resulting statement proposes that 8 principles should be considered: community involvement, natural process as a design form, heritage & history, adaptability, sustainability, integration of users, perception, and mobility & flow.

Keywords

post-industrial, transportation landscape, railway, regeneration, mobility

Supporting Institution

Politecnico di Milano

Thanks

Many thanks to my supervisor Michael-Franz Jakob and co-supervisor Chiara Geroldi for their support and guiding during my writing process.

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