12. Step-by-Step Design of a Local Spatial Strategy for a Mega Transport Infrastructure Project

Mega transport infrastructure projects (MTIPs)—for example, high-speed railways—are often criticized for top-down approaches with a lack of vertical integration, high costs carried by taxpayers and lack of consideration of other impacts. Furthermore, such infrastructure projects are often presented as projects to reduce travel time through better connections, but often they extend infrastructure with insufficient traffic. Notwithstanding accessibility issues, little attention is given to environmental, social and economic impacts. As introduced by Fabbro (see Fabbro’s introduction chapter in this book), ‘planning and programming of large infrastructure projects requires radical changes […] due to the current economic downturn and the general reduction of publically available resources’. So, it needs to be considered what benefits these areas would obtain from higher accessibility, what sorts of spatial developments are enabled through new infrastructure and what the general benefits or drawbacks for local inhabitants and the environment would be.