Shopping Centre vs. Railway Station. Selected Examples in Poland

Abstract

A modern shopping centre is often built as a multi-functional facility. It constitutes a place that generates the customer traffic, and consequently a demand for a relatively big number of parking spaces. A characteristic group of shopping centres are facilities erected in the vicinity of transport hubs, combining different means of transport. This study focuses on the shopping centres located near the railway stations. The railway station and the shopping centre are examples of buildings which fulfil different functions, and yet Poland has seen more and more projects combining these two types of facilities. This paper attempts to determine the influence of the shopping centre integrated with the railway station onto the functions and significance of the railway station building. It also touches upon the aspect of accessibility of the individual structures, particularly to pedestrians. Two shopping centres are considered herein within the scheme of the comparative analysis: “Galeria Krakowska” in Cracow and “Avenida” in Poznan. Both facilities came into being as parts of the construction of the new transport centres located near the main passenger railway stations in both cities. These areas are located in inner cities or nearby, which makes them the potential representational venues. In the result of the study, a tendency to the design shopping centres directly combined with a railway station, e.g. via passages with service outlets, has been observed. It seems that the railway station ceases to be a fully independent structure. In Cracow, it is located underneath the railway platforms, constituting a connector between the shopping centre and the coach station. In Poznan, the railway station is located above some of the railway stations and is linked with the “Avenida” shopping centre via a shopping passage. It has been observed that in both cases it is difficult to separate, both spatially and visually, the new railway station building from the building of the shopping centre, which seems to make the shopping centre take over the function of the edifice of the railway station, welcoming and bidding farewell to passengers. The building of the shopping centre in a way becomes the railway station building. The function of the transport hub, combining different means of transport, does not always entail comfortable pedestrian accessibility. For example in Poznan, some of the railway platforms are not accessible directly from the buildings of the railway station or the shopping centre. Furthermore, this paper points to the impact of such investments on the intended use of former railway station buildings. It has been observed that the adaptation of all the railway station buildings to the new functions in the examples referred to above took place several years after they had been closed down. The Author emphasises the need to determine the future use of old and often historic railway station buildings already at the stage of the investment planning.

Spatial Distribution and Land Development Parameters of Shopping Centers Based on GIS Analysis: A Case Study on Kraków, Poland

“…Galeria Krakowska is an element of the transport hub, connecting the railway station, bus station, and city public transport. The location of shopping centers in the vicinity of railway stations is a frequent indication, not always improving the functioning of the transport interchange [58]. malls in the downtown area (intensively built-up zone with a variety of functions, characteristic of the area of the city center): Galeria Krakowska and Galeria Kazimierz.…”

“…Galeria Krakowska is an element of the transport hub, connecting the railway station, bus station, and city public transport. The location of shopping centers in the vicinity of railway stations is a frequent indication, not always improving the functioning of the transport interchange [58]. Most of the considered facilities are located in urbanized areas (zones comprising built-up areas forming continuous, compact spatial arrangements in which there are larger groupings of buildings, e.g., housing estates, service complexes, etc., well-connected to the city center via public transport, excluding larger storage and industrial-production complexes or those related to technical infrastructure) or low-urbanized areas (zones of discontinuous, dispersed buildings, located in the vicinity of compact green areas).…”