Metropolitan Habitat on Railway Infrastructure

摘要

Scarcity of inner city space forces designers to look for new and innovative methods to use available space. Real estate above railway infrastructure is an example of such innovative use of inner city space. In London, Paris and Amsterdam, projects are planned or under construction where complete urban districts are built over existing railway lines and railway yards, thus creating a metropolitan habitat above railway infrastructure. These projects are constructed near by or even include railway stations that lie at the border of the historic city centre. In this paper, aspects on quality and flexibility are discussed as well as some specific technical aspects and physical safety. After that, three possible structural solutions for real estate above railway tracks are presented and the feasibility of such projects is indicated.