評論
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Urban planning
城市規劃
Rail ambition
鐵路大設想
Cities used to think modern art could save them. Now it's railway stations
城市的救命稻草由過去的現代藝術轉為地鐵車站
IN JANUARY commuters voted Birmingham New Street one of Britain's worst railway stations. Each day nearly 150,000 people move through a structure built for half as many. But by next year it will be transformed, with 400 tonnes of undulating steel cladding and a vaguely eyeball appearance. The station will have “the wow factor”, boasts Sir Albert Bore, the leader of Birmingham city council. It will also show how much attitudes to railway stations have changed.
今年1月，英國上班族的投票結果顯示伯明翰新街火車站是全英最差的火車站。每天都有15萬人都要去擠這個容量只有人流量一半的車站上下班。但明年，情況將有所改善—車站將使用400頓的包鋼材料，帶給人們一種模糊的視覺體驗。伯明翰市長Albert Bore夸耀說，這個車站將會使走過路過的人情不自禁的叫出聲來，使乘客對火車站的態度實現360度大轉彎。
Railway stations are the chief exception to the rule that Britain invests too little in infrastructure. Of the 17 big termini managed by Network Rail, the owner of Britain's tracks, 11 are being redeveloped or have recently been completed. Five other stations, including Reading and Northampton, are being spruced up by local councils and Network Rail.
英國向來對基礎設施的投資就少，但火車站則是一個例外。英國鐵道所有者鐵路網管理的17個火車站中，有11個使乘客對火車站的態度實現360度大轉彎，還有5個（包括雷丁火車站和北安普頓火車站）由當地政府和鐵路局負責翻新修理。
Some simply need to be expanded: the number of train journeys has risen by 35% since 2005. But the design of New Street suggests aspirations well beyond more easeful travel. The building would not look out of place in Dubai and is striking, if slightly incongruous, in the grey West Midlands. City planners wanted something monumental, like Grand Central station in New York, says Sir Bernard Zissman, chairman of the independent design panel.
有一些則只需要擴建：自2005年起，搭乘火車旅行的人次上升了35%。但是新街火車站的設計表明，改良的初衷不僅僅是為了實現提供“更舒適的旅行”這一基本目的。這種獨特亮眼的建筑出現在迪拜很合適，但是在灰蒙蒙的西米德蘭茲郡，就有那么點不合時宜了。城市規劃者、獨立設計小組主席Bernard Zissman解釋說想建一些地標性的建筑物，就像紐約的中央車站一樣。
“Twenty or thirty years ago business people were more likely to arrive in a city by car,” explains Jon Neale of Jones Lang LaSalle, a property specialist. Town planners duly carved out motorways and roundabouts to entice them. In 1962 a local politician claimed that a new design for Birmingham, involving an inner ring road, would make it “one of the finest city centres in Europe”.
仲量聯行的房地產專家Jon Neale說，二三十年以前，商人們大多數情況下都會坐車，因為城市規劃者不失時宜地開發了很多高速公路和環狀交叉路口誘惑他們。1962年，一位當地政客稱會在伯明翰開始新的城市規劃，包括建設一條內環路，使其成為“歐洲最好的市中心之一”。
Cities now measure their appeal by their stations. Businesses cluster around them: at King's Cross, a once-grimy part of north London, a postcode has been created for all the new buildings around the station, which was redeveloped in 2013. John Lewis, an upmarket department store, will open in the mall above New Street (which is indeed called “Grand Central”) along with 60 other shops. The council hopes it will pull in visitors to the city.
當今很多城市都用他們的火車站衡量城市魅力。車站附近也建起了商業圈：英國王十字車站曾是北倫敦一個污穢不堪的地方，2013年重建后，所有車站周圍的新建筑都被賦予了一個新的郵編。高檔百貨公司John Lewis將會在新街車站上面開一家商城（命名為“中央車站”）以及60家商店。市政當局希望這會吸引更多游客。
Such ambition recalls the stations of the 19th century. Those structures “spoke to the corporate sensibility of a city,” says Tristram Hunt, an MP and historian, by combining commerce with the sheen of civic pride. The first New Street station, built in 1851, had the largest single-span roof in the country at the time. It was torn down by enthusiastic 1960s town planners. Now some of its original lustre may return.
這樣宏大的構想讓人想起了19世紀的車站。歷史學家兼國會議員Tristram Hunt說，那些建筑結合了商業貿易和公民自豪感，向企業家們訴說著城市的點滴與沉淀。1851年修建的第一個新街火車站有那個時代最大的單拱橋屋頂。20世紀60年代，狂熱的城市規劃者將它拆掉。而現在，那些原先的光輝可能重返。譯者：張丹 校對：徐珍
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