Unraveling the impact of TOD on housing rental prices and implications on spatial planning: A comparative analysis of five Chinese megacities

Transit Oriented Development (TOD), as a widely practiced planning strategy toward urban sustainability, commonly refers to the integration of transport and land use in form an integrated transit station area surrounded by compact development high-quality walkable environment. Although policymakers are very enthusiastic about potential TOD boosting real estate market livable neighborhoods, how characteristics affect housing rental prices has not well been gauged with empirical data. Taking advantage online platforms, this paper attempts fill gap through explicitly unraveling impact on across five major Chinese megacities (Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hangzhou Wuhan). We first propose conceptual framework explain why impacts prices. TODs then delineated T-test confirms that properties present significant higher than non-TOD ones. Spatial hedonic modeling is employed identify relationship between (e.g., metro station, neighborhood synergy) each megacity, variable decomposition further utilized quantify their relative contribution. Regardless variations among megacities, it discovered generally account for 10%–20% presents highest The synergy also plays essential role. Metro type rather proximity acts exploratory variable. These findings foreground essence lies (neighborhood) development, which often overlooked previous studies overemphasize importance “transit” (station) itself. Based identified TOD-generated premiums, we offer recommendations practices be into China's territorial spatial planning. This study renews our understanding outcomes both conceptually methodologically.