QATAR UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING ASSESSMENT AND CLASSIFICATION OF TRANSIT STATIONS FOR TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT (TOD) POTENTIAL USING NODE-PLACE MODEL: THE CASE OF DOHA GOLD METRO LINE BY NAJEEBA ALI KUNJU ABDULLA KUTTY A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the College of Engineering in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Masters of Science in Urban Planning and Design June 2018 © 2018. Najeeba. All Rights Reserved. COMMITTEE PAGE The members of the Committee approve the Thesis of Najeeba Ali Kunju Abdulla Kutty defended on 07/05/2018. Dr. Shaibu Bala Garba Thesis/Dissertation Supervisor Dr. Raffaello Furlan Committee Member Dr. Muhammad Zaly Shah Bin Muhammad Hussein Committee Member Approved: Khalifa Al-Khalifa, Dean, College of Engineering ii ABSTRACT ABDULLA KUTTY, NAJEEBA, ALI KUNJU., Masters : June : 2018, Masters of Science in Urban Planning and Design Title: Assessment and classification of transit stations for Transit Oriented Development (TOD) potential using node-place model: The case of Doha gold metro line Supervisor of Thesis: Shaibu, Bala, Garba. The State of Qatar, though a developing country, has been witnessing a rapid process of urbanization and development due to its rich natural resources base. Development has resulted in the expansion of its settlements leading to urban sprawl, particularly in Doha capital city. A high level of dependency on vehicular transportation along with sprawl, has led to prevalent congestion and transportation problems. Qatar, faces an unprecedented challenge in meeting the growing travel demand constrained by limited land and mediocre infrastructure. Recently as a result of the award for hosting of the world cup to Qatar, the State is introducing a metro system to both service the world cup as well as address its transportation problems. This metro system is projected to deal with rapid motorization and urbanization issues within the country, by meeting commuter travel demands, recovering urban traffic condition through reduced traffic load and offering efficient public transport system encouraging user accessibility/mobility. The Doha metro system along with its component stations are expected to impact the quality, amount and pattern of development in the city. Gold metro line stations show lack of interconnectivity between transportation and land use development densities. Also, problems such as wide residential streets encouraging vehicular usage (lower grid pattern, iii dead ends and cul-de-scas); poor pedestrian walkable environments; lack of community gathering areas; overestimated or underestimated interchange modes exist within the station areas. Thus, it is imperative to address the impact of this introduced metro network at localized area around these metro stations. Therefore, research attempts to analyse the stations to make sure that multi-modal transit supportive urban development is executed through better planning, design and operational activities. Research aims to assess, compare and classify the gold line metro stations, by identifying potential for TOD type development. Bertolini’s node-place model (N-P model) is used to identify, assess, classify and compare the metro stations. Using this model, deliverables such as the N-P graph and interpretations of node index, place index, and N-P TOD index, assists in classifying the stations as unbalanced nodes. Thus, stations exhibit a high quality of transit supply when compared to urban development of the surrounding built environment. Summary of results highlight that increase/decrease of particular node indicators such as direction and frequency of bus operation, proximity to road access, and car park-ride facility, influences accessibility and parking criteria of the station. Also, increase of place indicators such as degree of functional mix, intersection density, and IPCA, facilitates favourable land use density, diversity and walkable environments in the metro stations. Research concludes with policies/actions to enhance TOD type development of metro station areas based on the obtained node-place indicators. iv DEDICATION I dedicate my work to my dear husband and beloved parents who have supported me throughout my life. Their affection, love, encouragement, and prayers enabled me to achieve such success. Thank you my beloved family. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor Dr. Shaibu Bala Garba, for his continuous support, patience, encouragement and motivation. His guidance, and fruitful critics helped me all through this thesis. Thank you. Above all, I am indebted to my parents for being there for me through out every step of the way. I express my gratitude to my husband for his continuous encouragement, love and support. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION................................................................................................................... v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................... vi LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... xi LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................... xiii Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Research Problem & Significance ......................................................................................... 2 1.2 Research Questions ................................................................................................................ 8 1.3 Research Hypothesis .............................................................................................................. 8 1.4 Research Aim and Objectives ................................................................................................ 9 1.5 Research Outline .................................................................................................................... 9 Chapter 2: Literature Review ........................................................................................ 12 2.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 12 2.1.1 New Urbanism and Smart Growth ................................................................................ 13 2.2 Transit Oriented Development ............................................................................................. 15 2.2.1 TOD introduction .......................................................................................................... 15 2.2.2 Conceptual definitions .................................................................................................. 16 2.2.3 Historic origins .............................................................................................................. 21 2.3 TOD-Urban redevelopment planning tool ........................................................................... 22 2.4 TOD planning concepts and principles ................................................................................ 24 2.4.1 Node-place theory (co-development) ............................................................................ 24 2.4.2 TOD Planning principles .............................................................................................. 27 2.5 Approaches to implement TOD ........................................................................................... 30 vii 2.5.1 Developing TOD typologies ......................................................................................... 31 2.5.2 Categorization of TOD typologies ................................................................................ 32 2.6 Assessment of TOD: The Node-Place model ...................................................................... 36 2.6.1 Theory: Synergos and transport land use feedback cycle ............................................. 36 2.6.2 The N-P model .............................................................................................................. 38 2.7 Implementing the Node-Place model ................................................................................... 43 2.7.1 Balancing transport network ......................................................................................... 43 2.7.2 Balancing station areas ................................................................................................. 45 2.8 Summary .............................................................................................................................. 48 Chapter 3: Research Methodology ................................................................................ 56 3.1 Research Design................................................................................................................... 57 3.1.1 Input .............................................................................................................................. 58 3.1.2 Analytical Model (Processes and Relations)................................................................. 59 3.1.3 Output ........................................................................................................................... 60 3.2 Research Approach .............................................................................................................. 61 3.2.1 Theoretical