Regional LRT as a Backbone for the Peri-Urban Landscape: Research by Design on an Intermodal Public Transport Network

Abstract

Public transport in suburban and peri-urban areas is often dismissed as unrealistic due to low density and car dependence. In Flanders, Belgium, where inefficient bus networks dominate and suburban areas rely heavily on cars, new concepts such as Light Rail Transit (LRT) and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) offer alternatives. This paper presents a research-by-design study in Klein-Brabant, a dispersed peri-urban region, exploring how a regional LRT network could serve as the backbone for sustainable development. The study emphasises intermodality, where mobility nodes expand their role beyond transport to act as carriers of suburban and urban programmes. Through the ORDERin’F research project, scenarios for transforming heavy rail into light rail are tested, proposing spatial morphologies that enable nodal development as a sustainable alternative to ribbon development. The findings highlight LRT’s potential to reshape peri-urban mobility and spatial structure in Flanders.