distinguishes three development zones in which the
accessibility of a HSR stop has various kinds of
influence. There are primary, secondary and tertiary
development zones, which are, respectively, a zone that
is within five to ten minutes reach of the station, a zone
that can be reached within 15 min from the HSR station
by complementary transport modes and a zone that is
more than 15 min travel time from the HSR station (see
Table 7).
The greatest effects of the advent of the HSR can be
expected in the primary zone. The maximum amount of
travel time can be saved in this zone because, in
principle, the traveller does not need to use comple-
mentary transport. Also, because of its proximity to the
HSR network, this area profits directly from its
improved status as a location. High-grade office and
residential functions can be established, and relatively
high increases in land and real estate values can be
expected. As a result, high and dense construction
becomes attractive in this area. There can also be some
high-grade functional areas in the secondary zones, but
the gains in property value and the building density will
be lower there. Stakeholders, therefore, may be
somewhat less inclined to invest in these zones, though
they may still do so at a later stage. Even tertiary
development zones may profit from improved accessibility,
but these zones are unlikely to see any
development effects directly related to the advent of
the HSR. The three zones are represented in Fig. 3.
In general, the primary development zone can be
regarded as the immediate station area; the area directly
surrounding Euralille for example, (see Fig. 1) roughly