Deep in the ground: this is how the light rail and metro lines cover the surface of the cities

If there are no last-minute changes, the light rail will enter our lives this November.

Under the surface of the ground, underground entertainment and shopping complexes are forming for them that will serve the millions of passengers and will apparently significantly increase the real estate values ​​in their surroundings. But not everything is rosy

David Rosenthal

01/08/2022

Monday, 01 August 2022, 00:07

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Is this what it will look like?

Interior design Reuveni interior architects, architecture in Raleigh-Levitsky-Kasif (Photo: 3Division)

Here comes the train: we have quite a few reasons to believe that this time too we will be deceived and the opening of the red line will be postponed, for the umpteenth time, to an unknown date.

NTA senior officials, for their part, are convinced that the first passenger will walk through the station complex in the near future.

The feature is felt around the stations. Dozens of workers are working on final finishing touches, but something that most of us are completely unaware of is what is happening below the surface, where hundreds of professionals work on the substations -Grounds and the transitions, which will include quite a few attractions all the way to the office or back home.

"The light rail and the metro create new real estate and commercial areas below the ground," says Karen Reuvani, interior designer and owner of the firm Reuvani Interior Architects, which accompanies central stations, train stations and large projects that are saturated with construction, "similar to the US and Europe, these areas are intended for commerce Essentially different from the one in the malls and commercial centers in the cities. These are actually a kind of transit stations that produce a different kind of commerce - faster and more specific. We will see there mainly a mix of businesses that will allow us to consume things that can be 'grabbed on the road' such as coffee, sandwiches, farm products and anything that is possible Easily transport home by train.

"The concept is a little different and the stores will not be similar to the large stores in malls, but adapted to travelers, most of whom are in a hurry to work and the business areas. As in the world, I do not expect there to be competition between the above-ground malls and the underground complexes. This is a different type of commerce, which is less familiar to us here in Israel but is very common in cities Like London for example. It is very likely that just like there, here too, the very existence of these complexes will greatly increase the values ​​of real estate, both private and commercial.

After all, it's not for nothing that even decades after they were built, the Azrieli Towers are considered the most expensive buildings to rent offices in, and this is mainly due to their proximity to the train: there is no need to leave the station, everything is within walking distance, the train, the mall and the office in one place.

In the new strategic stations, which are located in the heart of the working areas, the demand will exceed the supply and those who manage to get their hands on these lands will only benefit."

Avoid these sights.

Abandoned train station (Photo: ShutterStock)

Tali Darel (Photo: Sam Jacobson)

Karen Reuvani (Photo: Sharon Dotan)

Reuveni predicts that, like the rest of the world, this new concept will be happily adopted here in Israel: "If they manage to adapt it to the mix of people who come to the work and business areas every day, it will work great - this is the place to buy a coffee just before arriving at the office, to drop by during the lunch break to complete small deficiencies at home and end the working day at Happy Hour with colleagues from the office, in a cool and well-designed underground bar, just like their British counterparts, for example. It is not impossible that entrepreneurs will use some of the spaces in these complexes for integrated department stores, where it will be possible to buy, for example, pharmaceutical products in the same place and immediately elsewhere This is how to eat something. The trend of businesses below the surface will change world orders and give impetus to the older businesses that exist above. The innovation and inviting appearance of the new ones will lead to a natural process of refreshing and upgrading the older businesses."

According to architect Tali Darel, a partner in V5 Architects, there are many examples from around the world of how these underground complexes work: "These are complexes that work great in central cities like London and Paris, but there is great danger in underground development if there is no proper maintenance. These spaces can become with speed from a blessing to a hazard. The commercial potential is very great and on the other hand, the location below the surface requires special resources of maintenance, cleanliness and safety. It is very easy to be drawn into vandalism in these areas, as we see in quite a few developed cities, for example in the New York SUBWAY, where in certain areas The situation is terrible. The stations are not maintained and are often used as a home for street dwellers."

As mentioned, there are leading and active stations around the world where the stores are full and the feeling is safe and pleasant. Even here in Israel, with proper care, the underground Harkal stations can be used as a great dynamic public space. will become a prosperous and successful project.

To this end, a national mechanism must be created that will unite the authorities and anchor the issue.

This could be in the form of a supervisory authority, for example.

If we fail to understand that without a maintenance mechanism these stations will very quickly become a social problem like the old central station, we will find ourselves in trouble," Darel adds. "In terms of planning, it is important to stick to a uniform language.

This is clearly seen in the historic stations in Paris or the stations in Dubai, which have a uniform architectural-artistic language, which creates a powerful and strong feeling in them.

It is important to assimilate this concept here in Israel as well.

It makes sense that each station will get its own characteristics, and still, there should be an even hand."

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A uniform architectural-artistic language.

The metro in Paris (photo: ShutterStock)

Interior design Reuveni interior architects, architecture in Raleigh-Levitsky-Kasif (Photo: 3Division)

According to Darel, since most of the future metro stations are planned in fairly crowded commercial centers, from an urban point of view far-reaching changes are not expected: "In the periphery, small-medium centers will grow, the shift will be mainly in the marginal stations of the center, where we will see change, especially in places that are now considered dormant and will become Apparently to areas with tremendous growth and a much busier commercial life."

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