Railway territories: A methodological approach to urban studies

Abstract

The main question that shaped this study was how to characterize and map morphological changes occurred in urban areas crossed by railway infrastructures. This paper presents a method to approach these areas, from a morphological perspective. The impact of the relationship between public investment and private interests on land use as strategic agents of territorial and urban transformation areas are also here highlighted. Applied in a comparative analysis of two suburban railway lines of different geographical contexts, Lisbon (Portugal) and Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), the method provides a potential multi-scale morphological analysis which includes the early development period of railways (XIXth century) but also the actual times, throughout an evolutive perspective of the transformation stages. As a result, specific morphological elements that provide information about the characterization of the railway territories are identified, which relate to specific criteria of analysis such as landscape, urban layout, buildings and open spaces. New categories of morphological elements, extracted from specific analysis of the railways and the surrounding urban space, are identified and suggested to be taken in account on future urban morphological studies. This paper aims to emphasize the methodological value and furthermore suggests their application on morphological analysis.