Enhancing pedestrian satisfaction in central metro station areas: A 3-dimensional impact-asymmetry analysis across three functional TOD typologies

While existing Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) research has predominantly focused on meso-level urban scales, attention to the micro-level design factors of pedestrian environments remains limited, with particularly neglect of travel stability and demand diversity among pedestrians across different functional TOD types. Enhancing pedestrian satisfaction can encourage the use of public transportation and foster diverse public life in metro station areas. This study utilized pedestrian satisfaction survey data from residential, hybrid, and office metro station areas in Shanghai's central city, applying impact-asymmetry analysis supported by XGBoost modelling to examine nonlinear relationships between micro-level environmental indicators and overall satisfaction. A 3-dimensional analysis, integrating importance-performance analysis and three-factor theory, was conducted to enable priority assessment. Key findings demonstrate that: (1) Across all station types, over 80% of the indicators exhibit an asymmetric impact on overall satisfaction, providing strong support for the nonlinearity theory in satisfaction research; (2) Parking occupation represents a critical issue requiring immediate intervention in all metro station areas; (3) Indicator priorities vary significantly by the type of metro station areas, specifically manifested through: residential metro station areas containing the most high-priority attributes for improvement, hybrid metro station areas requiring enhanced commercial connectivity, and office metro station areas prioritizing comfort-related indicators over connectivity enhancements.