抄録
Railway stations are viewed, as a part of Railway Landscape (RL)—a railway infrastructure considered in terms of visual amenity and functional efficiency. Perception of RL and its deterioration in Japan are discussed, with focus on railway stations that became to uniform and rationalized, with too many commercial advertisements, and their comparison with European ones. The purpose of the comparison is to identify problems of Japanese stations, and find out what lies behind a successful design of many European ones. The paper describes the objectives of “Station Renaissance” - a rediscovering railways trend that was initiated by railway operators in Europe - and indicates different approaches in Europe and Japan. “Context Sensitive Design” (CSD) is introduced, as a new comprehensive method of transportation planning and design, which among other considerations includes aesthetics of transportation infrastructure. It is suggested, that while CSD in USA and much the same concepts in Europe generally refer to planning and design of highways, similar concept—“Context Sensitive Design for Railways” (CSDR) - can be applied for railways. The paper concludes that CSDR approach can successfully improve aesthetics of Japanese stations.
