How to support the design and evaluation of redevelopment projects for disused railways? A methodological proposal and key lessons learned

摘要

Finding a new use for neglected infrastructures, such as disused railways, provides an opportunity for low carbon travel experiences as reconversion policies promote new uses, arrest decay processes and re-establish continuity in the environmental system, using existing linear infrastructures. Nevertheless, the decision of what to do in order to reuse abandoned railways represents a complex decision making problem, involving heterogeneous impacts and stakeholders. Within this context, Multi Criteria Analysis techniques can be used to synthesize stakeholders' preferences by accommodating conflicting and incommensurable impacts. The present study thus uses Multi Criteria Analysis to answer a real demand for transportation systems' planning coming from the Piedmont Region Authority in Italy, where 12 passenger railway lines have recently been abandoned and replaced by bus services.