The coordination between citywide rail transit accessibility and land-use characteristics in Shenzhen, China: An explorative analysis based on multidimensional spatial data

Abstract

Transit-oriented development (TOD) represents a pivotal strategy globally aimed at promoting urban and transportation sustainability. A vital challenge to the effectiveness of TOD is the spatial discordance between urban transit and land development. Despite a recent surge of interest in the relationship of rail transit and land use, the conclusions are predominantly confined to the metro station area. The key land-use characteristics pivotal to gaging the sustainability of TOD, such as the proportion of commercial land and the ratio of green spaces, remain insufficiently scrutinized. Therefore, this study evaluates if and how rail transit development has integrated land use citywide, with a particular focus on green spaces, commercial value, land-use diversity, and job-housing spaces. We developed a citywide grid-scale index of rail transit accessibility (CRTA) and constructed coordination models based on multidimensional spatial data and bivariate spatial autocorrelation analysis. The results imply the following: 1) Residence, employment, and the diversity of functional facilities, influenced by market and individual preference exhibit a robust spatial coordination with CRTA. But government-led planned commercial land demonstrates a poor coordination with CRTA, and there is a pronounced incoordination between planned green spaces and CRTA. 2) There are significant disparities in the interactive relationships between CRTA and various land-use characteristics across urban and suburban settings. In urban areas, there is a high level of coordinated development between rail transit networks and land use, although this is influenced by physical segmentation and planning policies. In suburban areas, rail transit plays a guiding role in land development, but the development of rail transit fails to keep up with that of land use. Finally, the study provides recommendations for coordinating rail transit with land-use characteristics in both urban and suburban areas, and identifies key areas where improvements in rail transit accessibility are most urgently required.