Megacorridors: striking a balance between the space of flows and the space of places Louis Albrechts * , Tom Coppens Institute of Urban and Regional Planning, Catholic University of Leuven, Leuven B3001, Belgium Abstract The corridor concept occupies a prominent place in several European reports. The creation of corridors is related to Ôspace of flowsÕ and Ôspace of placesÕ. The analysis of the case of the Brussels high speed train station makes it utterly clear that the space of flows often wipes out and replaces the space of places. A new financial and managerial elite is installed at the cost of the local population. This article provides elements of an alternative, open, fair and transparent approach. This calls for innovations in the governance structure as well. Ó 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Megacorridors; Flemish diamond; HST; Governance; Subsidiarity 1. Introduction Several European documents such as the European Spatial Development Perspective (CEC, 1999), the Spa- tial vision for north-west Europe (NWE Spatial Vision Group, 2000) and several reports from the European Investment Bank stress that since the completion of the internal market people, goods, services and capital can move freely throughout the Union. The flows of persons, goods and information have increased substantially in recent decades. Europe-wide communication axes and corridors linking the national networks facilitate these flows. Cities are the nodal points in the organization, management and structuring of these networks. The main nodal points––the large cities and the urban net- works in north-west Europe––are interconnected via a dense physical and virtual network of international in- frastructures. The nodal points linked by these corridors face the dialectical opposition between the space of flows and the space of places (Castells, 1996). The space of flows is based on a network that links up specific places with well defined social, cultural, physical and functional characteristics. Brussels is such a place that houses strategically important functions (European capital, Belgian capital, Flemish capital, capital of the French- language Community, headquarters of NATO) that build a series of localities based on activities and orga- nizations around a key function. Moreover, Brussels constitutes a major interchange for corridors linking the Randstad, RheinRuhr and Lille/Paris/London. The article starts with a reflection on the corridor concept and constructs a conceptual model that aims to overcome the historic antithesis between individual actors, society and space. In questioning corridor development the article reflects on subsidiarity and governance and provides building blocks to bridge the gulf between the space of flows and the space of places. For Castells (1996, p. 428), this is needed because other- wise we may be heading toward life in parallel universes whose times cannot meet because they are warped into different dimensions of a social hyperspace. The article makes use of a case study focusing on the high speed train (HST) terminal in Brussels as elabo- rated in the INTEREG IIC project CORRIDESIGN. 1 This project selected seven megacorridors, of which three cross Brussels: the links with (1) Randstad, (2) RheinRuhr and (3) Lille/Paris/London (Romein et al., 2001). 2. The corridor concept In European discussions on spatial policy, the corri- dor concept refers to large infrastructure axes between * Corresponding author. Tel.: +32-16-321335/321328; fax: +32-16- 321981. E-mail address: louis.albrechts@isro.kuleuven.ac.be (L. Albrechts). 1 See Priemus and Zonneveld in their introductory article. 0966-6923/$ - see front matter Ó 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/S0966-6923(03)00032-2 Journal of Transport Geography 11 (2003) 215–224 www.elsevier.com/locate/jtrangeo