Analysis and evaluation of abandoned railways aimed at greenway conversion: A methodological application in the Sicilian landscape using multi-criteria analysis and geographical information system

Abstract

Nowadays, in many countries around the world, abandoned railways are considered as important resources that can be recovered and converted into greenways, thanks to their specific adaptability to this function. With its about 1000 km of dismantled lines, Sicily is the Italian region where the abandonment of railways is more evident. Nevertheless, to the present day, only about 20 km have been converted in greenways. As a recovery action requires large investments, it is necessary to determine a priority list based on the actual suitability of a track to be converted. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to define and apply a methodology, based on multi-criteria analysis associated with geographical information system (GIS), for the assessment of different suitability degrees of an abandoned railway to be converted in greenway for agro-touristic and cultural use of the land. The work was developed on two abandoned railway lines, sited in the province of Syracuse, embedded in landscapes of great value thanks to the existence of natural areas and cultural heritage. The applied method attributes great importance to the quality of the landscape that is considered in the same way as the intrinsic characteristics of the track. Several indicators were weighed and spatially mapped to describe the local resources at the margin of the track and the characteristics of the stretches of the two lines. The GIS analysis allowed obtaining various intermediate maps containing the necessary information for drawing the ultimate maps, which showed the suitability of each line to be converted in greenway. The results showed that the suitability level depends on the specific characteristics of the railroad and its marginal values, as well as on the quality of the landscape and the development opportunities that it offers. The creation of greenways can thus become a support to make easier the integration between the landscape and the growing demands of land, economic and tourist development, while maintaining intact the rural land and favoring its connection with the urban centers. The study, although referred to specific territorial areas, is generally valid from a methodological point of view and can be applied in other contexts.

Transforming Abandoned Rail Corridors into Multi-purpose Trails: Applying a Spatial Hedonic Approach to Estimating the Economic Benefits of the Little Miami Scenic Trail in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

“…The Hamilton County Auditor defines market values as the most probable prices of the properties in an open and competitive market with a willing buyer and seller. 3 Following closely the relevant literature on hedonic pricing analysis, we include three categories of explanatory variables in our study: structural property characteristics (S), neighborhood characteristics (N), and locational characteristics (L). The structural characteristics include the lot size of the property (numacres), the total square footage of the building (sqftfinished), the number of bedrooms (bedrooms), the age of the building (age), the square of building age (agesquared), and the number of fireplaces (fireplace).…”

“…Rail trails are characterized as being separate from the street networks, with low slopes, connection to the communities via trail heads, and passing through varying landscapes [2]. These characteristics make rail trails very desirable for safe non-auto-oriented connectivity and recreation and provide a feasible option for those cities with redundant, obsolete, and abandoned rail corridors [3].…”

“…Altogether, the rail-to-trail corridor runs through 12 jurisdictions: Anderson Township, City of Cincinnati, Columbia Township, Fairfax, Indian Hill, Loveland, Mariemont, Milford, Montgomery, Newtown, Symmes Township, and Terrace Park 3. https://hamiltoncountyauditor.org/hamilton_glossary 4.…”

Riverside Greenway in Urban Environment: Residents’ Perception and Use of Greenways along the Huangpu River in Shanghai, China

“…First, urban greenways can gradually restore urban ecological environments damaged by human activities and play a vital role in purifying the air and conserving water and soil resources and other natural aspects [6,7]. Second, greenways can connect a series of fragmented natural and social elements in a linear form to promote the circulation of traffic, information, and personnel, thus maintaining and enhancing the ornamental and practical value of the areas along the greenway [8,9]. Finally, evidence suggests that greenway is among the most important factors for improving the surrounding environment and infrastructure, stimulating the revival of abandoned urban areas, furthering tap the development potential, and promoting the appearance of the city to achieve the coordinated development of urban social and economic development and ecological protection [10].…”

Cycle Tourism in Rural Areas: Promoting a Rail Trail Network in Andalusia, Spain

“…Since the first trail, the 88 km Illinois Prairie Path, was inaugurated in the 1960s (Quattrone et al,2018), there have been many successful rail trail experiences. These have been especially noteworthy in Australia, New Zealand, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy, among other countries (Reis et al, 2014;Senes et al, 2017;Abildso et al, 2018).…”