LAUSR

ABSTRACT High-speed rail (HSR) can serve cities in two main ways: first and foremost, via city-centre stations, but increasingly also via peripheral stations. By analyzing the case of Reims, an intermediate-size city located 150 km to the east of Paris and served by both a central station and a peripheral one, this article aims to identify the reasons that lead firms to locate around each type of station. Two surveys conducted in 2014 and 2015 enable us to show that HSR not only structures urban space but also segments it by function. While office availability is a very important location consideration for both station types, other location factors, including HSR, are type-specific. Moreover, the types of companies around each station are not the same. Business services located around Reims’ peripheral station are linked to the industrial base of the region, whereas firms around the central station are looking for proximity to final clients (either in connected cities or from regional markets) and to benefit from a positive neighbourhood image. As might be expected, HSR seems to produce urbanization economies (access to different transport modes and/or proximity to amenities) but in a different way around central and peripheral stations.