TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT IN A METROPOLITAN RAIL NETWORK IN TRANSITION: EVALUATING STATION AREAS IN METRO VALPARAÍSO, CHILE

Abstract

Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) is a key instrument in sustainable urban planning, although its implementation in nascent metropolitan areas served by regional rail networks presents challenges that remain little explored. This study evaluates the alignment of the immediate surroundings of 13 Metro Valparaíso stations, located in the municipalities of Viña del Mar, Quilpué, and Villa Alemana, with the principles of TOD. The research develops a TOD Index based on five dimensions of the urban environment: density, land-use diversity, pedestrian design, proximity, and modal performance. It also includes an assessment of pedestrian accessibility, calculated through street-network isochrones using Network Analyst. The analysis integrates these variables through Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and hierarchical clustering, enabling the identification of five distinct station groups with contrasting performance levels, ranging from consolidated centralities to low-density areas with limited functional integration. The accessibility results reveal mismatches between physical configuration and effective connectivity, indicating that high levels of density or land-use mix do not necessarily ensure adequate pedestrian access. The study introduces the notions of incomplete centralities and functionally active stations lacking morphological synergy to describe environments where transport function and urban form evolve in a decoupled manner. In contexts of urban fragmentation and inherited spatial structures, TOD proves more valuable as a diagnostic framework than as a rigid normative model. The research acknowledges limitations related to data availability and proposes extending the analysis to other railway lines and metropolitan scales to evaluate its comparative transferability.