The 'whys and wherefores' of citizen participation in the landscapes of HS2

摘要

High Speed 2 (HS2) is the UK's proposed rail network which will run trains at speeds of up to 400 km per hour. The line will operate from Manchester and Leeds, via Birmingham to London, with eight new stations serving the planned 565 km of track. The impact on the landscape will be significant, as the width of the structure will be comparable to that of a three-lane motorway in many places. Construction will begin in 2017 and the first trains between London and Birmingham are scheduled to run in 2026 (HS2 Ltd, 2016a). Similar projects have caused degrees of controversy around the world, as in the case of Italy's 'No TAV' movement, which claims several individual demonstrations of up to 80,000 people since the early 1990s (infoaut.org, 2013). Despite support for HS2 from all the UK's major political parties, there is significant public opposition to the project, particularly along the proposed route. HS2 developed from plans for trans-European high-speed rail networks that were formalised in 1996. The first report to the government proposing HS2 was produced in 2009 by the consultancy firm Atkins (2009). It forecast huge increases in rail freight and passengers, alongside increasing road congestion and use of domestic flights. At the time, the Labour Government was facing a general election and, in the words of Lord Mandelson in July 2013, was "keen to paint an upbeat view of the future" by proposing HS2 (The Independent Newspaper, 2013). Government reviews of the idea ran from January 2009 to January 2012, with attention largely focussed on the route, the first 'preferred scheme' being announced in December 2009.