/**** With apologies for cross-posting*/

Dear colleagues,

We are pleased to announce the conference "High-speed rail and the city: 
urban dynamics and tourism" under the auspices of LabEx "Urban Futures".

This conference will be held at Paris-Est University, Wednesday 21 -- 
Friday 23 January 2015.

All details about this call for papers can be found below.

 >>> Abstracts are due May 31th, 2014

Please feel free to pass on this information to anyone who you feel may 
be interested in this conference and to contact us for further information

Prof Marie Delaplace               Dr Frederic Dobruszkes
University of Paris-East           Free University of Brussels (ULB)
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-------------------------------------


Under the auspices of the LabEx Urban Futures

Call for papers for the conference

**** High-speed rail and the city: urban dynamics and tourism******

Paris-Est University, Wednesday 21 -- Friday 23 January 2015

/This conference is being held by members of the research group "City, 
Tourism, Transport and Territory" (LabEx "Urban Futures", Paris-Est 
University) and about 20 researchers from Belgian, Italian and Spanish 
academia.//
/
It will include keynote speakers (Kenneth Button, Yves Crozet, Roger 
Vickerman), round-table discussions with academics and non-academics, 
full paper sessions and possibly a field trip in a Paris suburb near a 
high-speed rail station.

High-speed rail (HSR) services have expanded significantly in Europe and 
Asia. They are expected to expand further in these regions and appear in 
various other areas in countries as diverse as Brazil, Morocco, Saudi 
Arabia, the US and Uzbekistan.
In all cities potentially to be served, HSR induces many expectations 
with respect to attracting firms, corporate executives and high-income 
inhabitants; large-scale urban projects focused on real estate and 
public spaces; urban renewal; and urban and business tourism 
development. Depending on the cities or on the perspective, adverse 
impacts may include the emergence of dormitory towns; gentrification of 
HSR stations' neighbourhoods, relegating the poor to the suburbs; 
increasing real estate prices; the development of second homes; firms or 
inhabitants moving out of the city; etc. In this respect, public 
authorities implement various policies related to urban renewal and 
development around railway stations, setting up multimodal hubs and 
planning central business districts, conference centres, etc.
In this context, the aim of this conference is to debate worldwide 
findings on the complex relationships between HSR and cities. Indeed, 
while a significant range of academic literature exists on this topic 
based on case studies, the simple accumulation of this literature is not 
enough to produce a global understanding of these relationships. 
Furthermore, the literature's findings tend to differ and are 
controversial, suggesting that a wide range of factors matter. The 
ultimate aim of the conference is thus to create an understanding of, 
and debate issues related to, the relationship between HSR and cities, a 
topic that embraces public and private stakeholders' strategies and 
urban dynamics. Special attention will be paid to ex post empirical 
evidence and to methodologies for assessments, acknowledging the 
contradictory aims possibly pursued by various stakeholders.

The conference is made up of two topics:

1. HSR-induced dynamics around stations, including, for instance, the 
following themes:
- Does HSR impact cities' residential attractiveness and residential 
real estate prices? If so, to what distance around the stations? Can we 
observe some gentrification near the stations?
- Can we observe new forms of professional mobility linked to HSR 
services, linked to temporary offices in HSR stations?
- What are the impacts on firms located around the stations and beyond?
- Why do developers invest in these kinds of spaces in terms of 
residential and business real estate production?
- Does the location of HSR stations (namely, central vs. peripheral or 
even rural) matter?
- What urban planning policies are applied around the two types of 
stations?
- Does HSR affect urban/regional transportation systems? What kind of 
intermodality?
- ...

2. Tourist dynamics in HSR cities, including, for instance, the 
following themes:
- Does HSR increase competition between tourist places?
- Have cities served by HSR experienced tourism development? What types 
of tourism? Tourists or territorial organisations that fit better with 
HSR travel (e.g., urban tourism, theme parks, destination tourism, etc.)?
- Is tourism restricted to cities served or can we observe a diffusion 
in larger regions?
- Can we observe a specific dynamic of second home in the spaces served?
- Does HSR impact tourism (destination choice, length of stay, distances 
travelled, accommodations' occupancy rates, etc.)?
- How do new HSR services or projects impact local or regional 
governance and territorial marketing for tourism expansion? How do 
private and public stakeholders change and appropriate HSR to promote 
their tourist resources?
- Do HSR operators consider tourism in their strategies and, if so, how?
- Does the location of HSR stations (city centre vs. outside of the 
city) matter with respect to tourism?
- Does HSR lead to modal change and to increased intermodal competition 
for tourism mobilities?
- Which policies would enhance the value of HSR tourism?
- ...

**** Language:*
Submissions (including abstracts, papers and presentations) are welcome 
in English only.


**** Submission:*
The following information should be submitted to both 
[log in to unmask] and [log in to unmask] by May 31, 
2014 (maximum 500 words for the abstract).
- Conference: 'High-speed rail and the city: urban dynamics and tourism '
- Topic (Tourism or Urban dynamics)
- Title
- Authors' names, affiliation and details
- Aim(s)
- Research question
- Methods
- Expected or obtained results

**** Calendar:*
Abstracts submission: May 31, 2014.
Notification of acceptance: July 15, 2014.
Paper submission: December 1, 2014 (either a four-page short version or 
a full paper).

**** Publications:*
Papers sent in due time will be included on the conference's CD-R or 
memory stick.
Depending on the number and quality of papers presented, a high-level 
journal's special issue would be edited after the conference.

**** Additional information:*
The conference will be held at the 'Cité Descartes' (Paris-Est 
University, Champs-sur-Marne).

**** SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE:*
Salvador Anton-Clave, University of Tarragone
Sylvie Bazin, University of Reims
Carmen Bellet, University of LLeida
Alain Bonnafous, University of Lyon 2
Anne Bretagnolle, University of Paris 1
Kenneth Button, George Mason University
Chia-Lin Chen, University College of London
Jose Maria Coronado, University of Castilla de la Mancha
Yves Crozet, University of Lyon 2
Marie Delaplace, University of Paris Est (UPEM)
Frederic Dobruszkes, Brussels Free University (ULB)
Valerie Fachinetti-Mannone, University of Dijon
Moshe Givoni, Tel-Aviv University
Armando Ortuno, University of Alicante
Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, University of California in Los Angeles
Philippe Menerault, University of Lille
Stephen J. Page, Bournemouth University
Francesca Pagliara, University Federico II, Naples
John Preston, University of Southampton
Jan Jacob Trip, Delft University of Technology
Roger Vickerman, University of Kent
Philippe Violier, University of Angers

**** ORGANISING COMMITTEE:*
Nacima Baron, University of Paris Est (UPEM)
Marie Delaplace, University of Paris Est (UPEM)
Aurelien Delpirou, University of Paris Est (UPEC)
Frederic Dobruszkes, University Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)
Jean-Francois Doulet, University of Paris Est (UPEC)
Alain L'hostis, University of Paris Est (IFSTTAR)
Francesca Pagliara, University of Naples