Mixed High-Speed, Conventional and Metro Central Rail Stations as Places to Work: The Case Study of Naples

Abstract

According to the innovation in services theory any substitution or addition of characteristics to a service is considered as incremental innovation with the objective of improving the final client’s utility. Moreover by service relationship, it is meant the establishment of relationships between the client and the provider with the objective of producing the final product. In the light of this theory stations are here conceived as a set of services and the added characteristics as temporary offices designed inside and around High Speed Rail stations. Therefore, the traditional concept of a station as a node changes since stations can be also considered as workplaces. The objective of this contribution is to identify the characteristics of the clients renting temporary offices and the role of High Speed Rail and more generally transport in this respect. A survey was employed, interviewing clients renting flexible offices inside the Garibaldi station in Naples in Italy. Data were collected concerning the clients’ socioeconomic characteristics, the transport mode chosen to reach these offices and the services used.