Implementing TOD around suburban and rural stations: an exploration of spatial potentialities and constraints

Transit Oriented Development (TOD) is an effective way to integrate land use and transport in pursuit of the goal of sustainable development. Most of the literature on TOD is devoted to station areas in urban contexts; even when TOD is considered with a regional approach, suburban and rural stations are poorly investigated. Analysing a case study, this paper explores spatial potentialities and constraints for TOD in suburban and rural contexts. The results show that conditions for TOD around suburban and rural stations vary substantially from those around urban stations. A broader, more complex and context-sensitive approach to TOD is recommended.