Author:

Keywords:

Infrastructure Urbanism, Regional Public Transport, Urban Geography, Belgium, Network Theory, Research by Design

Abstract:

The concept of 'network' is one of the fundamental themes in urbanism and planning. Urban concentrations exist because and in spite of networks: around nodes cities have emerged, well-connected to different types of networks, while at the same time the resulting accessibility of the territory gave way to peri-urban sprawl. These two opposite forces show the structuring potential of mobility networks, of infra-structure. The same duality, of concentration and sprawl, is inherent to the peri-urban context of the Flemish nebular city. Public transport, historically one of infrastructure networks that strongly influenced spatial structure, no longer has any relevance within the context of the nebular city. During recent years however, several projects show a new interest in developing regional public transport systems that can deal with the peripheral urbanization patterns. One of the main issues with regard to public transport in low-density areas is the lack of density. The concepts of intra- and intermodality may offer a solution to this issue, at the same time creating higher concentrations of movement around the nodes of a network. While Transit Oriented Development focuses mostly on capturing this as development potential to restructure the urban fabric on a local level, the concept of a network with strong nodes also facilitates spatial restructuring on a regional scale, that of the nebular city. The paper explores the hypothesis of a new regional public transport network as a new layer in the existing spatial structure of Flanders, and its strategic potential as a catalyst for spatial (re)developments.