High Speed Rail Stations in Territorial Areas: Sustainable Development and Quality of New Landscape

The High-Speed Rail (HSR) is the new mode of transport and is an opportunity for the sustainable development of the territory it crosses. The highspeed passenger’s stations are a node of significant importance. The stations are the fundamental elements of connection with the territorial system. HSR is an indispensable link to increase social and economic development and an opportunity to environmental sustainability. Transport networks reshape the landscape and defines new distributions of functional areas on the territory. This paper analyses existing HSR stations to evidence the homogeneous and nonhomogeneous characteristics found in different types of HSR stations. This working method allows to define, with the analysis of existing stations, a basic criterion to be applied in the planning process for new potential HSR stations. It is considered that the synthesis of uniform characteristics and specific characteristics can be useful, validated and replicable reference for potential new HSR stations that the planning process will locate. The main elements characterizing the reference criterion for the choice of a potential high-speed station were applied to the case study of Gioia Tauro. The planning process can use these categories to decide on the location of potential HSR stations. The integrated smart process allows to plan the transformations caused by the new infrastructure node. The planning process leads towards sustainable development of the territory and the composition of new quality landscapes. The paper understands the importance of HSR and proposes some useful references to the integrated smart process for sustainable development of the territory and new quality landscapes by means of new stations. As a result of HSR, the territory becomes sustainable and smart.