Transforming Urban Space Through T.O.D.

Transforming Urban Space Through T.O.D.

Traffic jam in urban area like Kuala Lumpur is a terrible phenomenon yet our government still promote more national car. When there're more cars means that the road is more congested and delays are getting longer. Constantly dealing with traffic jam can be stressful and have long-term impact on our physical and mental health. Wouldn't it be great if we could work, play and live in the same area without spending extra time in traffic?

Transit Oriented Development & Principles
Transit Oriented Development (T.O.D.) is an urban development which planned to maximize the density of diverse programme like residential, business and leisure space, forming a mix-used hub within walking distance (400 meter to 800 meter) of public transport. TOD have street design that encourage pedestrian walking and biking in a safe and attractive environment. Since fewer people need to drive, parking lots take up less space and usually incorporated into building. Besides, the feeder bus and other public transportation is provided for the convenience of TOD users in order to move around the city and reach to their final destination. In my point of view, TOD is definitely a good plan to reduce high dependency of car with smaller carbon footprint, at the same time to enable a more productive and livable environment.

Which Region are the Good Candidates for T.O.D.?
Have you ever wonder why these specific area like Bangsar, Mid Valley, KL Sentral, Bukit Bintang etc. are chosen as the candidates for T.O.D? Here i found the interesting articles showing why T.O.D principles cannot be applied uniformly across the entire city or transit network:
This World Bank report outlines three ‘values’ (3V) of neighbourhoods around transit stations which cities can use to identify which areas are good candidates for TOD, and what kind of development makes sense in each neighbourhood. The 3V Framework has been designed for use by both large cities with extensive transport networks, and smaller cities with only a few mass transit lines or a bus rapid transit system.

The three ‘values’ of transport hubs and surrounding areas are:

Node value (transit connectivity): this describes the importance of a station in the public transit network based on passenger traffic, connections with other transport modes and centrality within the network.

Place value: this describes the quality and attractiveness of the urban environment around the transport station. The factors affecting place value include diversity of land use, availability of essential services such as schools, accessibility of everyday amenities and the size of public spaces around the station.

Market potential value: this refers to the unrealized market value of transport station areas. It is measured by the major variables that can influence demand for land (such as current and future number of jobs in the vicinity of the station, number of jobs accessible within 30 minutes by transit, and current and future housing densities) as well as the supply (such as the amount of developable land, possible changes in zoning policy, and market vibrancy).
I think it's important to choose the right place for T.O.D. By identifying and addressing the values of the potential region using the 3V framework as mentioned above, it is possible to create new economic opportunities in the TOD neighborhood. And of course, a proper implementation strategies and policy should be considered during the planning in order to carry out these values.



reference:
What is TOD. Retrieved from:
http://www.itdp.org/library/standard-and-guides/tod3-0/what-is-tod/

Transforming the Urban Space Through Transit-Oriented Development Retrieved from:
https://www.c40knowledgehub.org/s/article/Transforming-the-Urban-Space-Through-Transit-Oriented-Development-The-3V-Approach?language=en_US