Evaluating pedestrian friendliness for MTR stations and surrounding built environment in Hong Kong

Abstract

The performance of railway service influences the living qualities of people in Hong Kong. This dissertation is a study to discover the pedestrian friendliness of R+P Stations and Non R+P Stations with different backgrounds. MTR stations that surveyed include two R+P Stations in new generation (Kowloon Station and Tsing Yi Station), one R+P Station in old generation (Tsuen Wan Station) and one Non R+P Station (Tsim Sha Tsui Station). A roadway characteristic-based PLOS model that following point system of analyzing is developed based on the requirements of planning and design standards in Hong Kong. From the data result, pedestrian walking environment of existing MTR stations have good quality in general. Factors that influence the overall pedestrian friendliness of MTR station catchments area include the construction time of the station, development time for streets the sidewalks along and number of walkways connecting to R+P properties the station have. Advantages and disadvantages of walking environment of each station are discovered. Recommendations for building a more pedestrian friendly city of Hong Kong are given based on the data results. Recommendations include quantification of the design standards, future works to solve the existing walking problems and encouraging more R+P Stations and urban renewal projects.