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Baron, Nacima.

5. Conclusion

Even before the transfiguration scheduled for 2025 by the architect Wilmotte (Wilmotte et
al 2016) which will give it a new bridge and dozens of additional retail outlets, Gare du Nord
shows how a process of flow engineering and the strategic management of commercial leases
can combine to transform the conditions of movement and consumption in stations. We have
seen how, in a classic space-time metric used by traffic mannagement ingineers, the pedestrian
is conceptualised as a rational individual who seeks to optimise his movement. In this view, a
retail outlet is only seen as an embellishment that contributes to customer satisfaction, but
alos as an encumbrance. Following this research, however, we can see that there is a much
richer connection between movement and commerciality in a station, and that the retail outlet
is a key to the flow management process. For an even closer analysis, this research would need
to integrate more field research (and more stations analyses) andcould focus on two areas. One
would entail mapping the role of shops from and within the pedestrian’s visual cone in order to
achieve a finer measurement of the value added (or subtracted) through the incorporation of
the logic of flows into commercial production. The other research direction would be to develop
a cognitive approach to movement in stations in order to better understand how the pedestrian
drifts in radar mode within this fragmented density, this material and sensory labyrinth, from
one attractor to another, between positive and negative stimuli and excitements and, also,
with the help of digital devices (Vincent S., Ravalet E. et Kaufman V., 2015).
6. References

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