Railway and City System. Integration and impact of railways in the urban european context

Railway networks and city systems have been interacting for almost two centuries. The role planned by transport infrastructure on urban development and configuration of territories is hardly questionable. Railway networks were projected in a pre-existing territory and subject to strong geographical constraints, which conditioned their spatial fit. Cities were enforced to adapt their morphological growth patterns in order to integrate the new infrastructure. Urban morphology, urban and regional planning, the socio-economic system and the logic behind transportation systems were some of the elements most affected by this process. The present paper seeks to highlight the potential of this infrastructure to transform. It does this through bibliographical research that considers both the theoretical approach and the historical perspective. Furthermore, several case studies have been analysed in order to contextualise the main concepts in a European context.