Evaluation of Spatial Performance of Urban Underground Public Space: A Case Study of Wujiaochang Sub-center in Shanghai

Abstract

Urban underground public space (UUPS) creates extra open space for local citizens, increases neighborhood vibrancy and improves the walkability of local blocks. Recently, huge amounts of UUPS have been built in Shanghai with the rapid development of metro systems. Among them, construction of UUPS in Wujiaochang Sub-center has achieved a great success in spatial performance with a systematic planning and implementation for more than 15 years. This paper proposes a comprehensive evaluation method for UUPS with 7 quantitative indices to assess the spatial performance in the aspects of social development, spatial structure development and traffic development. Evaluation results indicate that the UUPS in Wujiaochang Sub-center provides efficient public space for diverse activities to improve local vitality, improves urban compactness and dramatically increases the local pedestrian network efficiency and metro service scope. The study hopes to provide insights of a better UUPS planning and constructive suggestions for the future.