Long-term, large-scale empirical studies on the simultaneous development of transport infrastructure and the built environment are scarce. This thesis provides a future high-speed railway infrastructure implementation alternative based on the Dutch cultural landscape from Zwolle to Groningen. Our design goal is to better connect Amsterdam and provinces in the north of the Netherlands including Overijssel, Drenthe, Groningen by using a faster, more efficient and sustainable high-speed railway solution to replace the Lelyline solution proposed by the Dutch government based on traditional trains.

The author has systematically evaluated the advantages and disadvantages of various railway routing options, and based on this, proposed an optimal alignment. Then, the landscape typologies alongside the optimal alignment are concluded and the sustainable landscape interventions with the high-speed railway viaducts on those landscape typologies are elaborated into a catalogue, which will be not only meaningful for Zwolle-Groningen, but also will provide inspiration and guideline for future high-speed rail design projects in similar landscape context worldwide.
Afterwards, following the principles of sustainable development and theory of infrastructure as landscape, five unique sites along the optimal alignment are chosen to showcase the landscape architecture interventions in relationship with the rich Dutch cultural landscape. The outcome is a design proposal of the high-speed railway itinerary and landscape mitigation measures to its surroundings including both built and natural environment.