Railway stations and areas in urban centres are common features and organic parts of most large European cities. They play a significant role regarding functional and interaction patterns in urban areas. However in the last decades, various tasks which were previously performed by railway stations have been transferred to the urban periphery - for example, many new logistics centres were built outside the core cities. Large railroad areas and installations, which are often of immense architectural and commercial value, have lost their former functions. At the same time the demand for free development space in inner urban areas is rising. Particularly in the CADSES countries this trend is currently underway while in Western Europe similar tendencies were already encountered earlier. The approach of RARE is twofold: first, the operating environment (legislation, entrepreneurship, contracting and concessions) is analysed. After this, concrete pre-feasibility studies will be developed. One objective is the development of an integrated approach to manage the railroad areas and the sustainable development of the adjacent city districts through co-operation and exchange of experiences. The RARE partnership consists of a mix of public and private partners: railway companies, owners of real estate in railway areas, consultants, research institutions and municipal authorities. In the planning processes private investors, stakeholders as well as citizens will be involved. Expected Results: Expected outputs and results of RARE are: - Analysis of the operating environment (including stakeholder analysis, benchmarking and capacity development concepts), - Organisational assessment to compare partners who have already gathered some experience, such as the City of Karlsruhe, and others who have just started their activities, e.g. GAIAOSE in Greece, - Improved transnational communication and transfer of experiences, - Pre-feasibility studies as a first step for investments in some stations, - Attraction of investors and private capital for urban planning projects, private-public partnerships, - Composition of a short guide for project development in former railway areas