Planning for integrating rail transit and urban space—An interface-based research framework

The existing model of “planning for integrating rail transit and urban space” assumes that both urban space and rail transit are able to achieve their full potential and ignores the fact that the integration between the two can never be perfect. As a result, the existing model cannot reflect the nonlinear interactions between rail transit and urban space. This paper points out that the nonlinear interaction between rail transit and urban space is derived from the social interest reformation process while the “proposed” rail transit “embedded into” urban space, nevertheless the social interest is formed in “existing” urban space with long history. Based on this understanding, it is demonstrated that the interface can be an effective analysis tool for the process analysis, and an interface-based research framework for rail transit and urban space integration can be established. The merit of this framework is that studies of individual systems are no longer necessary, only the process and results of the coupling between rail transit and urban space need to be examined.