Railway recovery and re-development as a tool for intergrated spatial planning in Greece: the case of the Peloponnese

Abstract

This paper explores alternative strategies that will allow the inactive metric railway lines to create value for agro-food supply chains and to contribute to alternative destinations intensifying the tourism sector in the Peloponnese through the introduction of bottom-up actions. Despite the macro-economic objectives set by European policy- makers, the embeddedness of peripheral or abandoned railway networks remains poorly studied in Greek spatial planning. With the aim to challenge this phenomenon the paper discusses alternative determinants that can become operational for the re-appropriation of obsolete railway branches. The approach is based on the Test Planning method. It recognizes that railway planning needs to adapt policies that will allow for the comprehensive reading of rail infrastructure as driver of the wider socio-spatial process establishing a broader understanding of the local aspects that underpin regional development, mobilizing multiple sources of direct and indirect investment but also reflecting the maximization and adaptation of existing infrastructures within inert market potentials. The “train-by boat”, the “green-supply chain initiative”, the “knowledge corridor” and the “cruise train” contribute, through the Test Planning methodology, to resilient determinants.