Development of rail infrastructure and its impact on urbanization in the Randstad, the Netherlands

Abstract

Long-term, large-scale empirical studies on the simultaneous development of transport infrastructure and the built environment are scarce. This paper provides a long-term study of the development of the railway network and its impact on the built-up area-and vice versa-using the case study of the Randstad in the Netherlands between 1850 and 2010. The analysis is both qualitative and quantitative. We describe the shares of the built-up area in concentric buffers of 1-kilometer intervals from railway stations and estimate binomial logit models to predict the likelihood of new stations being built based on the amount of the preceding and subsequent built-up area and the likelihood that a new station might have encouraged further growth. Results show that during the early days stations followed existing urbanization patterns. But as time went by, new stations were more likely to be located in undeveloped areas and less likely to be located within the established built-up areas, which were already serviced by existing stations. Moreover, they prompted further growth, increasing the likelihood of more urbanization in their vicinity. IntroductionA key question in urban studies is how urban areas expand. Understanding the determinants of urban growth and the consequences of their interaction is critical information for many people, from economic geographers to spatial planners and policymakers who aim to guide and channel future urban development. Many have argued the structuring role played by transport infrastructure in shaping the cities over time (e.g., Hoyt 1939;Mumford 1961;Rodrigue, Comtois, and Slack 2009). Furthermore, it has been observed that transport infrastructure, urbanization (more generally referred to as land use), and travel behavior are all interrelated. Infrastructure improvements increase accessibility, making land more valuable for further development; conversely, land development creates travel demand, and con-

If you build it, they will change: Evaluating the impact of commuter rail stations on real estate values and neighborhood composition in the Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area, the Netherlands

“…Thus, the overall findings imply that there is an increasing tendency toward a denser spatial structure around the selected rail stations. The results are consistent with the findings by Kasraian et al, (2016) who reported that rail infrastructure prompted further urban growth in the Randstad, the Netherlands, suggesting that urbanization is more likely to occur in the vicinity of the newly opened stations. Although the captured densification around the rail stations is aligned with TOD principles, the success of densification relies on the capacity of existing neighborhoods, and the populations living within those neighborhoods, to adapt to denser ways of living, working, traveling, and socializing.…”

“…This policy mainly focused on re-concentrating development in major urban centers in response to the suburbanization process which had increasingly taken place in the Netherlands after World War II (Pojani & Stead, 2014). Accordingly, Dutch planning policy actively developed rail lines to link rural communities and small towns to the major cities (Kasraian, Maat, & van Wee, 2016). In this regard, the RandstadRail has emerged from a long-envisioned urban plan in the Randstad South Wing (especially the Rotterdam-The Hague metropolitan area).…”

Urban developments and daily travel distances: Fixed, random and hybrid effects models using a Dutch pseudo-panel over three decades

“…A rise in the share of rural inhabitants is associated with higher car kilometres. This was expected as the "rural" category includes municipalities in the Green Heart and the Randstad's outer ring which mostly lack an efficient and well-connected rail infrastructure, have less disincentives for car use and more space for parking (Kasraian et al, 2016a). Areas on higher distances from motorway exits are most likely in the Green Heart and outer rings, which also lack proper train connections, thus train and also bicycle kilometres travelled show lower values.…”

Rethinking environmental LCA life stages for transport infrastructure to facilitate holistic assessment

“…Rail has supported urban population growth to various extents over different stages of history worldwide (Akgüngör, Aldemir, Ku̧tepeli, Gülcan, & Tecim, 2011;Atack, Bateman, Haines, & Margo, 2010;Beyzatlar & Kustepeli, 2011;da Silveira, Alves, Lima, Alcântara, & Puig, 2011;Kasraian, Maat, & Van Wee, 2015;Kotavaara, Antikainen, & Rusanen, 2011;Mojica & Martí-Henneberg, 2011). Rail can channel the population from a city's core to the periphery (Garcia-López, 2012;Levinson, 2008) and stimulate residential developments (Ratner & Goetz, 2013;Xie & Levinson, 2010).…”