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A methodological approach to analyze the territorial appropriation of high-speed rail from interactions
between actions and representations of local actors

strategies of appropriation (the contamination, the knowledge, the creation and the control)
which come in a specific way according to the different stages of consumption act (Brunel and
Roux,2006).
Tab. 1: Comprehensive analytical grid of appropriation

Contamination Knowledge Creation Control

Pre-appropriation Intrusion Impregnation Preconception Will to vanquish

Pre-acquisition Researching Ressource
appropriation Identification information allocation Takeover

Appropriation
during acquisition Transfer Choice Personalization Taking possession
Pre-consumption
appropriation Internalization Discovery Transformation Possession
Appropriation
during consumption Incorporation Learning Self-fulfilment Domination
Post-consumption Dissemination / Transformation of
appropriation Passing on Withholding self and society Enjoyment

Their chronological approach appears relevant to examine how the territorial appropriation of
high-speed rail changes throughout the three main stages of the HSR projects (see figure 2):
Over the two or three decades which have elapsed between the first evocations of the project
and the conclusions of the public debate, appropriation has built up gradually from the numerous
and often contradictory representations which condition the territorial identification of the HSR
project and the ability of local actors to collaborate and to implement development projects.
During this gestation phase, numerous studies from the transport operator and the institutional
and socio-economic actors have helped fuel the debate. Although at this stage nothing has
been decided yet, the mobilizations against or in favor of the infrastructure project, lobbying
actions, the first technical and economic feasibility studies – now widely co-financed by local
actors - then the consultation organized for the public debate have given a virtual reality to
the project.

Then, the project gets into an active stage of development which constitutes a turning-point in
the spatial integration of infrastructure. Reports and consultations preceding the Declaration
of Public Utility (DUP) allow to refine the technical and spatial characteristics of the project,
to evaluate its socio-economic and environmental impacts and to consider its financing terms.
Preliminary engineering studies and public inquiries gradually give substance to the HSR project,
reducing the range of possibilities before the DUP initiates its concrete realisation. From there,
preliminary project studies, land acquisitions, financial negotiations, the construction site and
the definition of railway services replace one another and materialize the “désir de gare” (desire
for a rail station) (Troin, 2010). The new HSR station becomes a valuable potential resource and
gives rise to anticipation strategies that are expressed through development projects and an
intense territorial marketing campaign.
The official opening of the high-speed line renews the forms of appropriation. During the first
years of operation, new travel practices have accompanied the adjustments of transport supply.

International Congress on High-speed Rail: Technologies and Long Term Impacts - Ciudad Real (Spain) - 25th anniversary Madrid-Sevilla corridor 351