Node-place Model Research Articles

Application of the Node–Place Model in Algiers (Algeria)

Application of the Node–Place Model in Algiers (Algeria)

Unveiling Transportation Socio-Economic Adaptability Using a Node–Place Model: A Case from Zhejiang Province, China

Effective investment in transportation infrastructure ensures sustainable urban development and high-quality economic development. Understanding transportation and socioeconomic relationships is crucial for developing investment strategies. Existing research focuses on analyzing the contribution of transportation to the economy or the contribution of economic development to transportation, neglecting the identification of transportation infrastructure weaknesses to initiate targeted investment and construction. In this study, we propose an assessment framework based on the node–place model to identify the shortcomings in transportation infrastructure. The framework encompasses the adaptability of the current transportation infrastructure and the stage of economic development, evaluating whether the current transportation infrastructure is ahead of or lagging behind the level of economic development. We conduct a case study on three kinds of transportation infrastructure, including railways, highways, and civil aviation, in Zhejiang Province, China. The results show that Zhejiang Province’s transportation infrastructure generally meets economic development requirements, and most cities have relatively advanced transportation systems. However, significant gaps in transportation facilities in certain areas still need to be targeted and supplemented. These findings help to explore the theoretical relationship between transportation and socioeconomics, providing a basis for economic investment decisions on transportation infrastructure.

TOD typologies for metro stations based on the butterfly model

As a promising planning strategy for urban sustainability, transit-oriented development (TOD) has been widely encouraged and adopted to integrate land use and transport systems. Because of the different applications in form, function and impact, it is necessary to explore context-based TOD typologies to better map the TOD specificities and focus on strategic planning. As the best-known method, the node-place model provides a useful analytical framework to evaluate TOD typologies. However, by using two indexes to aggregate the node and place value, details of some important TOD characteristics are disregarded in this model. Proposing a multi-axial indexes system, the butterfly model can perform a more detailed evaluation of node and place. In this research, we have revised and optimized the butterfly model and taken Tianjin Metro Line 1 as a case study. We find that all stations can be divided into five TOD types with significant spatial variations. TOD principles have already been implemented in Tianjin with good integration between metro system and land use. The method demonstrated in this paper equips urban planners with a useful tool for evaluating TOD performance and adopting more targeted strategies.

An Overview of TOD Level Assessment Around Rail Transit Stations

AbstractBy integrating land use and transportation systems, transit-oriented development (TOD) focuses on transit and land development, development potential, and the balance between transportation and land use. The TOD level assessment not only helps optimize existing TODs but also guides TOD planning. Based on previous literature, methods for assessing TOD around rail transit stations can be roughly divided into three categories: TOD index, the node-place model, and the data envelopment analysis (DEA) model. The TOD index aggregates indicators from different dimensions into a single value for evaluation. The node-place model emphasizes transportation, land use, and the balance between them, as well as expansion factors. And the DEA model is suitable for situations without input indicator weights or consideration of different units of measurement. TOD indicators are the basis of the evaluation, and in both the TOD index and node-place models, indicator weights are mostly determined by using subjective methods. Furthermore, a limited number of studies to date have pre-evaluated the implementation of TOD at rail stations under construction or in planning. This paper aims to assess the level of TOD areas at the rail transit station level, which can help in constructing the evaluation index system, selecting TOD stations, and optimizing them.

Passive transit accessibility: Modelling and application for transit gap analysis and station area assessment

This paper presents a passive transit accessibility model and showcases its applications to Brisbane, Australia, as a robust decision support tool for transport and urban planning. Active accessibility describes how easy it is for a person to reach essential activities such as work, education or shopping, while passive accessibility refers to the ease of an activity located in a given area being reached by potential users such as workers, students or shoppers. The passive accessibility measure can help determine the location of new activity centres where good transit access is essential to serve nearby communities. Two case studies are presented to demonstrate the application of the model. First, the model is used to examine the passive transit accessibility of major employment and commercial areas in Brisbane, Australia, to identify areas deemed in needs of transit service improvement. Second, the model is incorporated into the node–place modelling framework for assessment of potential transit oriented development (TOD). The node–place model offers a conceptual framework for evaluating the (re)development potential or enhancing the transit supply of station areas. The node–place model is used to classify 1186 analysis zones in Brisbane. The study identifies areas that have potential for transforming into TODs after improving transit accessibility or changing land use or development.

Adapting node–place model to predict and monitor COVID-19 footprints and transmission risks

The node–place model has been widely used to classify and evaluate transit stations, which sheds light on individuals’ travel behaviors and supports urban planning through effectively integrating land use and transportation development. This study adapts this model to investigate whether and how node, place, and mobility would be associated with the transmission risks and presences of the local COVID-19 cases in a city. Moreover, the unique metric drawn from detailed visit history of the infected, i.e., the COVID-19 footprints, is proposed and exploited. This study then empirically uses the adapted model to examine the station-level factors affecting the local COVID-19 footprints. The model accounts for traditional measures of the node and place as well as actual human mobility patterns associated with the node and place. It finds that stations with high node, place, and human mobility indices normally have more COVID-19 footprints in proximity. A multivariate regression is fitted to see whether and to what degree different indices and indicators can predict the COVID-19 footprints. The results indicate that many of the place, node, and human mobility indicators significantly impact the concentration of COVID-19 footprints. These are useful for policy-makers to predict and monitor hotspots for COVID-19 and other pandemics’ transmission.

The node-place model, accessibility, and station level transit ridership

This paper uses Sydney rail data to examine the relationship between station level ridership and local and regional accessibility. We use net transit accessibility, which is the additional number of opportunities reachable by transit over walking to represent the regional connectivity value provided by transit. We map accessibility at transit stations, and use the number of opportunities within walking distance as an indicator of local access. We find elements of place (or local) access, including access to jobs and to residents within walking distance (local access), and nodal (or regional) access, including transit access to distant jobs and residential locations are both significant indicators of station level ridership. In particular, the number of jobs within walking distance of a transit station is the best single predictor of transit ridership. This paper highlights the importance of high density around station areas for transit ridership.

Developing a TOD assessment model based on node–place–ecology for suburban areas of metropolitan cities: A case in Odawara

Transit-oriented development (TOD) has a close relationship with ecology since its inception and aims to create livable and sustainable environments. However, few studies have examined the key point of ecology in the construction of TOD assessment models. This paper takes Odawara as an example, a city located on the outskirts of the Tokyo metropolitan area. Based on the node–place model, a new dimension of ecology is introduced to expand the two-dimensional model into a three-dimensional model, primarily applied to 18 stations in Odawara. Using this model, the study explores the impact of TOD on the development process of Odawara and proposes historical policy and data-based current condition discussions. The results indicate that the model-based analysis reveals a discrepancy between the current condition of the 18 stations in Odawara and the official positioning of these stations by city managers. Additionally, there is a negative correlation between the node–place value and ecology value of the station areas. We believe that this approach not only directly connects TOD with ecological considerations but also develops a new quantitative assessment model for TOD, particularly in the context of abundant ecological resources in suburban areas of metropolitan areas, arriving at a more refined level of research than before. At the same time, the model continues to maintain good scalability, providing new perspectives for the metabolism of developing areas worldwide.

결절점-장소 모형을 이용한 서울대도시권의 TOD 유형화와 대중교통 수단분담률의 관계분석

결절점-장소 모형을 이용한 서울대도시권의 TOD 유형화와 대중교통 수단분담률의 관계분석

Mapping regional accessibility of public transport and services in support of spatial planning: A case study in Flanders

The Flemish region in Belgium is characterised by a high and ever-growing proportion of settlement area. Moreover, the historical growth pattern has resulted in fragmented urban development causing societal and environmental problems such as strong competition for space by multiple sectors and traffic congestion. The Flemish government has incorporated in its Spatial Policy Plan the goal to reduce land take to zero by 2040 and to guide future urban development according to the Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) planning model. One of the principles of the plan is to concentrate urban development (to house the growing population and employment) at locations with good access to public transport and public and private services. Moreover, accessibility should be reached by means of active modes of transportation (e.g. walking, cycling). This paper offers a method to assist spatial planners that operate at a regional scale level by operationalizing these TOD-principles through mapping the urban development potential area-wide at high resolution. The proposed method builds upon the ‘node-place model’ put forward by Bertolini (1999). The method is applied to assess the urban development potential of locations in Flanders at a full-scale (i.e. for every location in Flanders, not only in areas around train stations). The method can be used to support policy makers operating at various levels (regional – local) to identify and prioritise locations that qualify for expansion, densification or reduction of the built-up area.

The Spatial Value and Efficiency of Inland Ports with Different Development Models: A Case Study in China

Inland ports have become elements of the modern transport and logistics infrastructure hub and play an important role in shaping urban spatial texture. However, the spatial dimensions of their development have received little attention in the existing literature. This paper explores the spatial value concept for inland ports, i.e., the node and place values, by using a node-place model that was adopted for passenger terminals such as metro stations or train terminals. After measuring the node and place values, our research further evaluates the efficiency of node value’s impact in improving place value, which indicates the effects of node value on regional development. This paper examines the impact of inland port activities on regional development, studying 12 Chinese inland ports with various models. The results show that half of the inland ports are balanced in terms of node value and place value. Only 50% of the inland ports are efficient, in terms of the contribution of node value to place value, in promoting the regional economy. Inland ports in a balanced position are usually more efficient. This study provides new evidence of inland ports promoting regional development, as well as a basis for policy-making for future inland ports.

Make TOD More Bicycling-Friendly: An Extended Node-Place Model Incorporating a Cycling Accessibility Index

Building cities more sustainably through transit-oriented development (TOD) has become a principal planning concept in recent decades. The node-place model serves as an important tool for determining the TOD typology, combining the consideration of the station with the transport network in which it is located. A number of studies have proposed the addition of new indicators to the original node-place model. However, the importance of bicycling as a mode of transport to access the transport mode, and within the vicinity of TODs, has been overlooked in the literature. In this paper, two bicycling-related indicators are added to the extended node-place model using Burwood Station in Sydney, Australia, as a case study. The results of the analysis show that the introduction of bicycle accessibility-related factors significantly impacts the TOD typology, and particularly the design index of the extended node-place model. This result implies that only considering pedestrian-related indicators may cause certain deviations in terms of the modelling result. The study highlights the significance of considering bicycling infrastructure in TOD planning to promote the use of active travel and sustainable transport behaviour.

Towards Sustainable Regional Planning: Potential of Commuter Rail in the Madrid Urban Region

In the extensive framework of the historiography on the relationship between railroads and cities that began in the second half of the 19th century, a new phase of thought and action emerged from the 1980s, driven by a transport-oriented development approach and the node–place model within the paradigms of New Urbanism and sustainable urbanism, respectively. This highlights the need to integrate railway planning and urban and territorial planning to take advantage of the development potential of the urban areas surrounding railway stations. In this context, a subject rarely analyzed in Spain is the urban areas around commuter railway stations and the opportunity they represent to rethink growth and development on an urban and metropolitan scale. This study explores and shows the roles that municipalities with commuter stations and their surrounding areas play and could play as a basis for leading an urban and territorial strategy based on a polycentric model in favor of more sustainable mobility and development in the Madrid urban region.

An Application of the Node Place Model to Explore the Interactive Mechanism Between Rail Stations and Urban Functions--A Comprehensive Analysis and a Case Study in Guangzhou

In the recent two decades, transit-oriented development (TOD) has been applied to deal with multiple traffic problems. To alleviate the urban traffic pressure, the Chinese government aims to establish rail transit in numerous cities, including the traditional rail, metro rail, light rail, and high-speed rail (HSR). Based on the notion of TOD, the balance of transport service and urban development is important for the TOD railway station. To explore the interaction mechanism between railway stations and surrounding area, this paper focuses on the coordinated evaluation of the interaction using the mode-place model. In the first part, a literature review is done to explore the overall interactive effects between node and place and the mode-place model applied to rail stations in Tokyo, Korea, and Shanghai. In general, there is a robust relationship between the transport service and the urban development of surrounding areas, and this interaction is affected by the location of rail stations. Furthermore, the application of this model not only corroborates these effects but also provides insight into the future development of rail stations. In the second part, the node place model is used to assess the node and place development of Guangzhou metro stations. The result shows that location, functional characteristics, and government planning play essential roles in the station area development.

Classification and Development Potential Evaluation of Urban Metro Station Areas Based on Extended Node-Place Model-- A case study of Nanjing Metro Line 1

In the process of changing from the extensive mode to the compact mode of the urban space development in China, metro has solved the problem of high-capacity and rapid transportation in cities. The planning of metro stations needs to be investigated in the context of station types in the process of the urban development. In the research, combined with the development examples of stations and surrounding areas along Nanjing Subway Line 1, the factors such as the classification of station types, the current development potential assessment and so on were investigated based on the extended "node-place" model. And then the scientific and reasonable optimization and adjustment strategies for stations and surrounding areas were proposed, which provides reference for the subsequent planning strategies and development and construction of metro stations and surrounding areas.

An Application of the Node–Place Model to Explore the Land Use–Transport Development Dynamics of the I-287 Corridor

A sustainable development plan should identify future urban development sites to maintain a balanced condition between transportation systems and land use. Most commonly used for Transit Oriented Development (TOD), the node–place model checks the balance between transportation systems and land use. While previous node–place research focused mostly on rail transportation, this research focuses on highway accessibility to assess future growth and urban development. To gain insight into the development dynamics, the node–place model is utilized with a focus on the I-287 Corridor located in New York, U.S. The node function describes the transport activity and connectedness of the area to other places of interest, which measures the accessibility of the locations, the type of connections, and the number of directions connected. In addition, population, number of workers in the labor force, and degree of a functional mix are also considered for place values. According to the results, four exits are in balanced areas with stable traffic and customer flow support and strong support from local government departments. This case study contributes to a deeper understanding and evaluation of highway accessibility and provides an exciting assessment tool for sustainable development planning. While node–place models cannot predict development, they can be used to understand development dynamics better.

Introducing social contacts into the node-place model: A case study of Hong Kong

The node-place model epitomizes metro stations as nodes in a city's transportation network and station areas as places accommodating activities in the city. According to this model, stations and station areas with balanced node and place contents/values contribute to harmony among human interactions, land uses, and (public) transportation services. The harmony is indispensable for civic engagement, quality of life, and well-being of urbanites. Most of the existing studies on the model, however, focus on transportation services and land uses. Little has been done on whether and how social contacts play an essential role in such harmony and are associated with node-place values. In this article, we therefore measure social contact in a city and introduce social contact as a third aspect to the node-place model. In particular, we introduce a method to identify group travel activities in the metro system, as a proxy for social contact, by using smartcard swipe records from Hong Kong's metro system in 2020. We then define and calculate place values, node values, and the intensity and density of social contacts by metro station or station area. We find that some stations with balanced and even stressed node-place values would have relatively low social contacts. The conventional node-place framework is not capable of capturing and evaluating realized social contacts of a metro station area. There exists a gap between realization of social contacts and the interaction potential facilitated by both node and place values of stations. Our new model allows us to better categorize different metro station areas according to their respective realized social contacts.

Using the node-place model on the example of Moscow metro stations

The policy of urban development focused on public transport involves the formation of high-density multifunctional areas within walking distance of passenger transport nodes. This practice has found application in Moscow, where the organization of transport hubs as multifunctional centers is being carried out - mainly on the basis of metro stations. Often the nodes are the actual centers of urban areas, so it is important to take into account the characteristics of the territories adjacent to the nodes and evaluate their interaction. As a tool for such an analysis, the empirical model "Node-Place" is proposed. It explores the relationship between transport security and the functional diversity of the territory. A number of heterogeneous indicators are combined into node and place indices, the values of which are plotted on a two-axis graph. The model assumes five "ideal-typical" situations indicating potential directions of development. Cases of using the model in Russia are unknown. The "Node-Place" model is tested on the example of eight stations of the Moscow Metro. Based on the experience of previous studies, some indicators are replaced to calculate the node index, taking into account local conditions. Difficulties with obtaining and verifying data for calculating the place index are noted. The model reveals two types of situations, which allows us to conclude that it can be used in Russian conditions to assess the development potential of territories around passenger transport hubs. It is possible to use the Node-Place model more widely at different scale levels based on the idea of a territorial optimum.

An extended node-place model for comparative studies of transit-oriented development

A commonly used quantitative method for evaluating the status quo in transit-oriented development (TOD) is the node-place (NP) model. However, NP-derived models seldom consider the compactness of station areas and their interactions with urban structures. This work extended the NP model by introducing two concepts of compactness and urban vibrancy. Moreover, a scoring approach was proposed to measure the overall TOD level to facilitate inter-city comparison. This work conducted a comparative study of two megacities, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, and found that Shenzhen is better in overall TOD performance. When examining specific dimensions of performance using clustering methods, we found significant discrepancies in both cluster characteristics and spatial distributions, with Guangzhou exhibiting a core-periphery spatial pattern and Shenzhen a polycentric structure. We observed a significant correlation between the TOD index and urban vibrancy in both cities. This study contributes to a more targeted TOD policy by supporting the decision-making process.

Deciphering the influence of TOD on metro ridership: An integrated approach of extended node-place model and interpretable machine learning with planning implications

Many global high-density cities have embraced transit-oriented development (TOD) strategies around metro stations in a strong push toward promoting transit trips. However, the general TOD principles must be adapted to a variety of local features. Thus, conducting a baseline study that deciphers the locality-specific differences and similarities in the influence of TOD on metro ridership is of paramount importance. Using the case of Shanghai in China, this paper demonstrated a novel approach to unveiling the locality-specific influence of TOD on metro ridership that integrated the node-functionality-place model with interpretable machine learning. By exploring a wide range of explanatory variables, we discovered that the relative importance of TOD structural factors (e.g., node, place and functionality) and neighborhood sociodemographics as well as their interactions presented great spatial and temporal heterogeneity for boarding and alighting on weekdays and weekends. Among the TOD structural factors, functionality was of the highest importance, and a greater contribution was observed within the central districts during peak hours. Regarding the interactions among the TOD structural factors, the interaction between node and functionality presented the highest relative importance, followed by that between place between functionality and that between node and place. Additionally, neighborhood sociodemographics also accounted for a noticeable contribution, especially in the outskirts. Based on the locality-specific estimations, the affinity propagation clustering algorithm was further used to cluster the TODs into difference groups as nuanced representations of the TOD-metro ridership relationships. The findings refreshed the knowledge base concerning the spatiotemporal heterogeneity in the nonlinear influence of TOD on metro ridership and provided new insights into spatial planning. The proposed approach showed high computational feasibility with strong theoretical underpinnings and thus offered broad potential applications into other high-density cities worldwide.