Browsing by Author "Wolfram, Marc"

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    Planning the integration of the high speed train : a discourse analytical study in four European regions
    (2003) Wolfram, Marc; Jessen, Johann (Prof. Dr.)
    Since its introduction in Europe in the 1980's the development and integration of the High-Speed Train (HST) has become a crucial catalyst for large-scale transformations of spatial and urban structures. The question of the location and development of HST stations takes a central position here. Within the large urban agglomerations new and old locations such as traditional central stations, stations in the urban fabric, in the periphery, or at the airport develop a relation of simultaneous competition and complementarity. This process takes place at a time that spatial planning is seeking to establish new urban/regional identities in the tension field of economisation, liberalization, social equity and environmental sustainability. This study examines the arguments and objectives for the integration of the HST in planning practice and their theoretical and empirical bases. It illustrates the kind of planning concepts that are derived from these bases, how certain concepts manage to prevail and what conflicts arise, and analyses the relative importance of different actors and sectoral policies. By using a discourse-analytical approach the study reconstructs the local and transnational planning processes for the regions of Rhône-Alpes, Randstad, Baden-Württemberg, Catalonia and their central cities Lyon, Amsterdam, Stuttgart und Barcelona. It becomes clear that despite the considerable differences between the four case study regions and cities, the examined planning concepts "speak the same language". They are largely determined by the same hegemonial discourse, the discourse of "metropolization", which drives the creation of particular coalitions among heterogeneous actors and the extension of their power positions. Thereby it brings about a far-reaching correspondence between the planned spatial and infrastructural changes, the urban and even architectural design of HST station locations, and the institutional frameworks that manage the transformation processes in the different regions. Here the problem resides not only in the emergence of new legitimation deficits and particular economism-based patterns of integration between sectoral policies: Especially the lack of alternative concepts and a public discussion of these appears to be a key challenge for dealing with the HST in future.