Smart growth principles and airport-centered TOD: A framework for sustainable site selection

The transit-oriented development (TOD) model has emerged as an innovative transport-planning strategy for enhancing urban quality of life. Evidence suggests that integrating smart growth principles into TOD can further promote a healthier, more livable, and sustainable urban environment.

This study develops a method-oriented framework that incorporates smart growth principles into urban transportation planning strategies and employs objective scientific methods for empirical analysis. The Taoyuan Airport Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system in Taiwan serves as the case study. A multicriteria analysis (MCA) was conducted to assess TOD planning performance. First, a literature review was used to identify and classify smart growth principles. Then, six experts evaluated the relative importance of these principles. Finally, station sites along the Taoyuan Airport MRT were selected to demonstrate the validity and advantages of the proposed methodological approach.

To identify the most suitable station site, we applied a model combining the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process and data envelopment analysis with the assurance region approach. The proposed method and framework can be applied to other cities or development projects aiming to enhance urban sustainability and livability.