Community-oriented transit

By addressing the needs and hopes of existing local communities in transit-oriented development projects, owners and investors will create social, environmental and commercial outcomes that are better for everyone, write James Beard and Andrew Gardner.

In cities worldwide, better transport links reliably drive up property and rental prices. Formerly hard-to-reach areas come within easier reach of business districts, shopping, leisure and services, making these now accessible places more attractive and therefore more expensive.

This gentrification, which displaces residents who can no longer afford to live in the area, is often an unforeseen and unwanted consequence of transit-oriented development (TOD). The negative impacts it can have on social equity are felt more acutely in neighbourhoods which are poorer, made up of ethnic minority communities, or contain high concentrations of younger or older people.

The risk is greatest when local planning policy neglects communities and projects are shaped around commercial goals. Developers naturally seek to maximise the value of their land holdings and their return on investment. However, this should not be at the expense of affordable housing and access to amenities for local people.

Dissatisfaction with the limited community benefits of transport projects, together with people’s desire for a better quality of life resulting from the pandemic and, now, cost-of-living pressures, is generating interest in a new, more progressive version of TOD. Transit-oriented communities focus on improving the lives of local people and end-users, while still securing return on investment.

People-centred planning and design

The terms transit-oriented development and transit-oriented communities are often used interchangeably, and we might see the same kind of proposals emerge from both: urban regeneration projects centred around railway and metro stations, encompassing office space, retail, hospitality, new homes and public spaces, and creating jobs and improving access to services. Such schemes can promote more sustainable forms of travel and contribute to net-zero targets.

The key difference is that a transit-oriented community project puts people at the front and centre of all planning and design, especially the people who live in a neighbourhood already and not just those who might live or work in a development after it is built.

This people-focused way of working requires us to look at projects through a social lens and take our thinking to another level. We should no longer think of an asset or development purely in terms of its commercial potential, but proactively consider how it can also contribute to place-making, enhance the urban and social fabric, and help communities to grow and thrive.

We need to listen to local people and end-users to understand their concerns and aspirations. We have to look at the bigger picture and regard investment in transport infrastructure as a means of realising wider social benefits, making a positive difference to people’s lives, and responding more holistically to community needs.

Leaving a positive legacy

To help development projects become more community-oriented, our teams use our own social outcomes framework, a core set of principles to guide us – and our clients – on how to design and deliver projects that leave a positive legacy.

The set of 15 outcomes provides a definition of an inclusive community. They articulate what we are aiming to achieve: improving people’s lives and communities through enhanced accessibility, inclusion, empowerment, resilience and wellbeing.

The framework ensures we have a clear focus on the outcomes for communities, not just the outputs or performance of the asset or development. This must start at the very outset and be maintained throughout each step of the project lifecycle. The framework embeds inclusion into project planning and delivery so that it is not an add-on or optional service.

Working with communities

Partnerships and collaborative working are key to the success of transit-oriented communities. Planners and engineers need to work with the community and bring potentially disconnected stakeholders to the table to define their desired outcomes – a ‘preferred future’ – and then seek to provide infrastructure to deliver it. This philosophy is called ‘decide and provide’ and it is at the heart of the Future Uncertainty Toolkit for Understanding and Responding to an Evolving Society (FUTURES), jointly developed by Mott MacDonald and the University of the West of England.

We have to look at the bigger picture and regard investment in transport infrastructure as a means of realising wider social benefits.

Andrew Gardner

Development manager, US West

Effective stakeholder engagement is essential. We are enhancing our range of transport and pedestrian modelling 3D visualisation services because they are a powerful way of enhancing engagement with clients, stakeholders and end-users, giving them compelling insights into the final appearance, accessibility and potential impacts of infrastructure and building projects.

STEPS, for example, is a microsimulation tool that allows users to dynamically simulate pedestrian movements to test design layouts and operational plans. Performance of infrastructure under varying conditions can be simulated and optimised to create more inclusive and people-friendly places.

Gaining insights from data

We are also investing in ground-breaking digital solutions to help us design and deliver more inclusive, outcomes-focused projects. Moata People and Planet is a robust, data-driven tool that will give investors and asset owners measurable insights into the social and environmental impacts of existing and proposed infrastructure assets.

It makes use of publicly available data and client-specific information to understand how projects can open up opportunities for job creation, improve access to housing, healthcare and education, and enhance the environment and public spaces, creating better places to live and work and improving quality of life.

Moata People and Planet ensures social and environmental insights are integral to the decision-making process, enabling developers to configure urban transit developments in such a way that aligns with the needs and aspirations of existing communities, as well as deliver on their commercial goals and meet local, national or international policy and sustainability drivers.

In this way, we can help deliver community-oriented transit as well as transit-oriented communities. Both transit and development, designed and delivered in service of communities.