The intersection between the field of urban mobility and the disciplines of architecture and urbanism has recently been expanded, with a deepening understanding of the impacts of mobility and infrastructural interventions on urban transformation, planning, and social equity (Shannon, Smets, 2010). A transport station functions as a network node and as a place within the city, therefore, spaces of urban collective encountering. Emphasizing collective space helps comprehend urban dynamics as Solà-Morales (2008: 190) explains; to improve conceptions of mobility spaces. In Brazil’s two main metropolises, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, there are emblematic cases of commercial uses in the surroundings the access of transport stations. They offer interesting perspectives on the question: “What forms of public space emerge along the lines of mobility?” Around stations, streets and squares of different sizes gain new flows of people, that use services directly related to the mobility system or not. Stations present design problems rooted in the conception of transport as place of passage—one to be designed with maximum control and parameters within the paid areas, minimal space provision in the unpaid area, and limited openness to the surroundings. Understanding spatial relations of formal and informal commerce is crucial to better plan mobility and infrastructure spaces (Lassance, 2024). To explore these issues, this study compares stations in Brazil that exemplify three types of commercial use: a. irregular informal commerce; b. street market; and c. shopping centre. Methodology includes characterizing architectural qualities and problems regarding commercial use on those spaces. Analysis by comparison with will be displayed in photographs and typology data will be organized in charts to better support the analysis. The research points out directions to designs that foster the station’s potential as a public space that articulates the territory and promotes rich urbanity.
Bibliography
- Shannon K., S. M. (2010). The Landscape of Contemporary Infrastructures. PressRotterdam: NAi Publishers.
- Lassance, G., Lassance, G., Gomes, B., & Manso, N. (2024). In-formal: urban infrastructure revisited. Rio de Janeiro: RioBooks.
- Solà-Morales, M. (2008). Espacios públicos/espacios colectivos. In Solà-Morales, M. (Ed.), De cosas urbanas. Barcelona: Editorial Gustavo Gili.
