Urban design and public transportation – public spaces, visual proximity and Transit-Oriented Development (TOD)

Walking distances conventionally define service areas for public transportation and urban growth boundaries for Transit-Oriented Development (TOD). Urban designers accordingly draw rings around transit stops and arrange transit-supportive land uses within 10-minute walksheds. This approach to TOD neglects processes of creating public spaces in visual proximity of transit stops. This paper proposes a methodology to analyze public spaces and looks at how commercialization and public space patterns unfold through viewsheds around transit stops. The results reveal amoebic TOD patterns of public spaces that are much smaller than conventional walking radii. This alternative viewshed approach can be helpful in designing TODs.