Designing Paris Gare du Nord for pedestrians or for clients? New retail patterns as flow optimization strategies

Abstract

This article explores the links between flow management and retail development in railway stations. Questioning the way in which planners as well as station managers consider the relations between movement and commerciality, it combines theoretical insight and empirical findings at Paris Gare du Nord. In the planning literature, the progress of pedestrian traffic models and the social understanding of passenger behaviour have long been perceived as separate scientific goals. Today, however, the two domains are converging towards a more comprehensive approach, which in recent times has become a crucial aspect of railway competition strategies. In light of this, dynamic mapping conducted over the period 2010-2017 at Paris Gare du Nord shows how railway designers are reorganizing space to foster free movement and consumption. The article concludes with the presentation and discussion of two main principles of station retail planning and design. First, the production of a 'servicescape' through the intensification of nudge strategies. Second, the delivery of a 'stationscape' based on the use of trademarks as landmarks and a threedimensional design that accentuates the socio-economic fragmentation of space.

L’évolution des modèles économiques des lieux de transport

“…Cette croissance des revenus liés aux activités secondaires s'articule directement à celle de l'usage des lieux de transport, du fait du caractère « biface » (Button 2017) de ce marché. Dans les gares, la hausse du nombre d'usagers provoque une augmentation de la consommation, donc de la rentabilité des commerces, ouvrant des possibilités d'augmentation des loyers pour le gestionnaire de gares, qui lui permettent d'investir dans l'amélioration de la gare et de ses fonctionnalités (Baron 2019).…”

High-Speed Rail Stations and Airports: Symbolic Infrastructures of Mobility as “Places of Globalisation”

“…Their designs are prepared for leisure and consumption, trying to retain people within them as long as possible; they are, to a certain extent, "spaces of immobility" (Adey 2007). Also, the train stations are now becoming retail destinations in their own right as the station provides travellers and visitors alike many commercial services, both as a complement to the trip and even outside of it (Baron 2019). Although there may be some dispar- ities across the globe, the railway retail sector does offer considerable potential, and will continue to, for many years to come.…”

Weiszfeld, tree-seed, and whale optimization algorithms comparison via locating transportation facilities with weightings considering the vulnerability and uncertainty

“…The meetup locations on a road network topology were optimized for multiple moving objects or road users, by using Manhattan and network distances [ 21 ]. New retail arrangements were explored between train stations by using pedestrian and traffic flow optimization, and combined theoretical perception and empirical outputs [ 22 ]. Recently, in the domain of air transport, an optimization model was developed to analyze the performance of an available air service by considering the spatial characteristics [ 23 ].…”